DEMENTIA

If anyone remembers the movie the Notebook, they had a small glimpse of how dementia works. One minute the person doesn’t remember who they are and the next they can remember everything and then revert to memory loss. This was witnessed by Noah when Ally for a short time had remembered who he was in the movie and when he was so happy, she forgot and then got combative.

These memory problems can cause family members to suffer. The deterioration of a loved one is something so difficult to deal with.

Dementia can’t be reversed.

The dementia types that can be somewhat managed are:

• Alzheimer’s
• Vascular dementia
• Dementia from Parkinson’s disease and similar disorders
• Dementia with Lewy bodies
• Frontotemporal dementia
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Some symptoms of Dementia are:

• Short-term memory problems, like forgetting where you put something or asking the same question over and over.
• Communication problems like not being able to come up with a word
• Getting lost
• Trouble with familiar tasks, like paying bills, etc.
• Personality changes like mood swings, paranoia, etc.

Dementia goes in stages the states are:

1. No impairment. No symptoms
2. Very mild declined. Slight behavior changes, but the person is still independent
3. Mild decline. The person will have a problem with making plans and have a hard time remembering certain events.
4. Moderate decline. More problems remembering, may have a hard time handling money or traveling by themselves.
5. Moderately severe decline. They may not remember their number or grandkids names, they’ll get confused about dates, at this point they need help with day to day functions
6. Severe decline. They begin to forget their spouse; they need help going to the restroom or eating.
7. Very severe decline. No longer speaks, can’t walk.

The test to diagnosis a patient is:

• blood and urine test
• Chest x-ray
• MRI or CT
• EEG
• Spinal fluid analysis

Treatment

Remember Dementia is not reversible, but they are treatments to help so down the process.

If you may believe you have Dementia or believe someone you love does don’t hesitate to call us at 404-968-9469.