Types of Dementia and their Characteristics

Dementia is a specific word that can describe the group of symptoms that occur when the cells in the brain would stop working properly. This mainly occurs at specific areas inside the brain affecting the ways the individuals think, communicate or remember (Kales et al., 2015). This condition has huge impact on the quality of lives of the patients who suffer from cognitive impairment and on the family members and friends. This essay would mainly describe the different aspects of the disorder so that healthcare professionals can gain enough knowledge on the topic while they would be caring for such patients.

Alzheimer’s dementia is the most common types of dementia and is caused by many Alzheimer’s disorder. It is seen that Alzheimer’s disorder is mainly characterized by the death of brain cells. As the disease is seen to progress, people are seen to suffer from mood changes as well as confusion. They also face various issues in trouble as well as speaking.   Vascular dementia is another common form of dementia. Studies suggest that it might occur when individual ages and this can be related to atherosclerotic disorder or stroke. Another is the dementia with lewy bodies. The protein deposits in the nerve cells mainly cause it. This is seen to interrupt different chemical messages in the brain causes loss of memory and disorientation. People who suffer from this disorder are seen to experience visual hallucinations and are seen to face troubles in falling asleep (Beck et al., 20170. Another type of dementia is called the Fronto-temporal dementia. This is mainly found to be rare but is also believed to the fourth common type of dementia. This is unlike the other form of dementia and is marked by emotional and behavioral changes rather than any form of cognitive impairment. In fact, studies show that memory in this individuals are preserved rather than facing loss. Many people with Parkinson disorder is also seen to develop dementia. People with this form of dementia occurring due to Parkinson disease can make the individuals face trouble with understanding of the visual information and remembering the ways of doing simple daily tasks (Townsend & Morgan, 2017). People are seen to become depressed or paranoid when this form of dementia progresses. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can be described as one of the rarest form of dementia. Only 1 in 1 million people can be diagnosed with this form of disorder and people are seen to die within 1 year of the diagnosis (Bruun et al., 2018). Another common type of dementia is called the mixed dementia. It is mainky sen to refer to the situation where a person is seen to be having more than one type of dementia. In the present days, missed dementia had become very common. The most common combination of the dementia is called the vascular dementia and the Alzheimer’s disorder. It has been found that about 455 of the patients affected with dementia mainly suffer from mixed dementia.

Demographics Impacted by Dementia

The greatest know risk factor for the disorder is the age of the individuals. Studies suggest that people who are of the age of 65 or older are mostly seen to acquire the disorder. However, this disorder is not the part of healthy aging and many of the individuals might develop the disorders in their 40’s or in their 50’s. After the age of 65, the risk for the disorder is seen to double every five years (Linds et al., 2015). At the age of 85, the risk is seen to reach nearly one third. Another string risk factor is called the family history. It has been found that individuals who have their parent, brother or sister with the disorder are also more likely to develop the disorder. The risk is seen to increase if more than one family member of the individuals are seen to develop the illness. It has been found that individuals who develop the disorders might be affected due to genetics that are mainly seen to include the influence of two types of diseases. Apart from the non-modifiable risk, factors that might make the individuals develop the disorder is the modifiable risk factors. Studies are of the opinion that some of the important modifiable factors are smoking and high blood pressure (Cermakova et al., 2015). Individuals who smoke or have high blood pressure are more prone to develop the disorders of dementia. Moreover, research has shown that type-2 diabetes in the midlife is seen to be associated with increased risk of dementia. Studies show that people with type 2 diabetes, on an average would be twice likely to develop the dementia as compared to those without diabetes. Again, people who have high level of cholesterol levels in their mid life are usually on the average more likely in developing the dementia as compared to those with normal total cholesterol (Lin et al., 2018). People who are seen to suffer from obesity as well as lack of physical activity are more prone to develop diabetes and high blood pressures. Therefore, indirectly, they also remain at the high chance for the development of dementia in their lives.

 Alzheimer’s disorder is seen to effect human being making them exhibit various outcomes like that of memory loss, confusion as well as difficulty in communication. They are also seen to be suffering from anxiousness all the time and shows symptoms of paranoia. The different symptoms of the vascular dementia are mainly seen to include symptoms like memory loss as well as impaired judgments. They are also seen to have the decreased ability in effective planning and decision-making and is also seen to suffer from loss of motivation (Murphy et al., 2015). The different types of symptoms of the Lewy body dementia are sleeping problems, memory loss and even hallucinations. Frequent swings in alertness are also found to be common in this type of disorder.  They also might faint  or disoriented due to the disorder. The symptoms are found to be quite similar to that of Alzheimer’s as well as vascular dementia. Frontotemporal Dementia is seen to have much number of symptoms like that of decreased inhibition that often frequently leads to inappropriate behavior. Moreover, the individuals are seen to suffer from apathy as well as loss of emotions. They are also seen to suffer from decreased empathy as well as repetitive compulsive behaviors. They are also seen to suffer from anxiety as well as depression (Rizzy et al., 2014).  Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has a number of symptoms and signs that are very similar to the other types of dementia as well. Some people are seen to experience agitation while the others are seen to suffer from depression. Confusion as well as loss of memory is very much common while many of them are seen to suffer from depression. Confusion as well as loss of memory is seen to be very common. This disorder affects the body, causes twitching, and muscle stiffness. Mixed dementia can show various types of symptoms in different people who might involve people experiencing memory loss and disorientation first. Many others might also have behavior and mood changes. It has been also found that most people suffering from mixed dementia will also have difficulty in speaking as well as walking as the diseases progresses. People who are suffering from Parkinson disorder dementia is also seen to have huge number of symptoms (Permacyzk et al., 2016). They are also seen to have changes like changes in memory, concentration as well as judgment. They are also seen too have trouble interpreting visual information as well as muffled speech. They are also seen to have visual hallucinations along with delusions especially paranoid ideas. They also develop depression as well as irritability and anxiety. Moreover, they are also seen to face issues with sleep disturbances that include excessive daytime, drowsiness and along with rapid eye movement sleep disorder.

Signs and Symptoms of Dementia

Neurodegenerative causes of dementia are the most common biological cause of dementia and it often leads to development of dementia. Neuro-degeneration is mainly the procedure where the cells of the brain are seen to break down and die. The death of the cells results in the permanent and the progressive decrease in the mental and the physical function over the time. In case of Alzheimer’s disease, brain cells are killed and damaged and this disorder thereby leads to shrinkage of the brain. Two types of abnormalities are mainly seen to occur which are formation of plaques and formation of tangles. Plaques are actually clumps of protein that are called the beta-amyloid and may damage and destroy the cells of the brain in several ways (Jessen et al., 2014). These are seen to interfere with cell-to-cell communication. Researchers have not found out the real mechanism of cell death but they have stated that collection of beta-amyloid on the outside of the brain cells is a prime suspect. Tangles are also seen to occur. The cells in the brain are seen to depend on the internal support as well as the transport system that help in carrying out the nutrients and other essential materials throughout the long extensions. The system is seen to require the normal structure as well as functioning of the protein called tau. In case of the Alzheimer disorder, brain cells are seen to depend on an internal as well as the transport system. This helps in carrying the different nutrients. The threads of the tau protein is seen to get twisted into different abnormal tangle inside the cells of the brain and this leads to the failure of the transport system. This failure implicates the declining as well as the death of the brain cells 9Stefanik et al., 2016).  Vascular dementia on the other hand mainly results from the conditions that cause damage to the blood vessels of the brain. This causes reduction in their abilities for supplying the brain with amounts of nutrition and oxygen that are required for performing thought processes. One of the common conditions that result in development of dementia is the stroke that causes blockage of the brain artery. Strokes might result in blocking of brain arteries that may cause a range of symptoms that would include vascular dementia. The silent strokes are often considered to be an increased risk of dementia. Studies are of the opinion that both in case of silent as well as apparent strokes, the risks of vascular dementia will increase and this will help in increasing the number of strokes occurring over time. Again, on the other hand, narrowed or chronically damaged brain blood vessels that can lead to vascular dementia (Bouts et al., 2018). Researchers are of the opinion that conditions that can narrow of inflict the long-term damage in the brain blood vessels can also become the cause of development of vascular dementia. These conditions are seen to include the wear as well as the tear that remain associated with abnormal aging of the blood vessels, abnormal aging of the blood vessels, high blood pressure, brain hemorrhage and even diabetes.  The above mentioned cause are the causes of the most common types of dementia that are prevalent in the nation of Canada (Raz et al., 2016).

Causes of Dementia and How They Affect the Brain

Diagnosis of dementia and then determining what specific types type of dementia it is cam be difficult for the healthcare professionals.  Studies suggest that diagnosis of dementia should be requiring minimum two core psychological functions to have been impaired sufficient for interfering with the daily living. They might be recollection, ability to focus and thereby playing attention, effective language skills and the ability of reasoning and problem solving as well as visual perception. The doctors can undertake cognitive as well as neuropsychological tests where they would be evaluating their thinking functions (Smits et al., 2015).  A number of tests might help in measuring the thinking skills like that of memory, orientation, reasoning as well as judgments and even language skills and attentions.  The other set of tests would be the neurological evaluation. In this form of tests, doctors will be evaluating the memory as well as verbal communication, visual sensitivity, problem solving, movements, balances, senses, reflexes and other areas. Another set of test are the brain scans that can also help the professionals to diagnose the disorder. These are the CT scans or the MRI scans. These can check for the evidences of stroke or any form of bleeding or that of tumor or hydrocephalus in the brain. These help the professionals to identify the cause that might be resulting in dementia symptoms in the patients. Another is the PET scans. This form of treatments can help in showing the patterns of the brain activities. It also helps to check whether amyloid protein, which is actually a characteristic of the Alzheimer’s diseases, is deposited in the brain or not (Husebo et al., 2016). Another form of test is the laboratory tests. In many cases, the simple blood tests can help in detecting different physical problems  and can affect the brain functions like that of vitamin B 12 deficiency as well as underactive thyroid glands. In many cases, healthcare professionals are also seen to use the spinal fluid for examining infection, inflammation as well as the markers of the degenerative disorders. Another type of test is the psychiatric evaluation, which is psychiatric assessment. A mental health professional can decide whether depression or another mental health state would be contributing to development of dementia or not (Sagbaken et al., 2017).

Different types of medications are used that help in temporary improvement of the types of dementia. These are the cholinesterase inhibitors as well as memantine. On the other hand, different therapies also need to be applied. These are the occupational therapies that can help in making houses safer and helping them to teach coping behaviors.  Modification of the environment is helpful by the reduction of confusion and noise and making it easier for somebody with dementia to clear focusing and functioning. Modifications of tasks are also quite important like breaking tasks into easier steps and focus on the success but not the failures. Structuring and developing routines for them also help in reduction of perplexity in people with dementia. Lifestyle enhancements and remedies at home can also be suggested (Husebo et al., 2016). The nursing professionals should be developing ways of enhancing communication, encouraging exercises, encouraging activities and establishing nighttime rituals. Other therapies are seen to include music therapies, pet therapies, aromatherapies, massage therapies and even art therapies.

Diagnosis of Dementia by Physicians

The families, caregivers and friends are often found to be highly impacted by the sufferings of dementia patients and their poorer living conditions. Guilt is one of the most common feelings found among the families and friends of affected individuals.  They feel guilty of the ways they have treated the now-affected person in the past. They also feel guilty because of the feeling of embarrassments they sometime have by their odd behaviors or for losing their temper (Alzheimercalgary.ca, 2018). They also feel guilty for trying to avoid or not wanting to take the responsibility of caring for person who is suffering from dementia. Another issue that they also suffer is the feeling of anger. They are often seen to be angry from the frustration and the helplessness to be a caregiver. They also feel angry with others who are not helping. They also remain angry at the person who is suffering from dementia for her own difficult behaviors as well as angry at the different support services. Feelings of frustration, guilt, distress, exhaustion as well as annoyance are also found to be quite normal (Piersma et al., 2018). Children are also affected to some extent. Children are often seen to experience a wide range of emotions when a parent or that of the grandparents is seen to develop dementia. Younger children are seen to become fearful thinking that they would get the disease or that they might have done something that had made their parents of grandparents to suffer 9Mainland et al., 2017). Teenagers can become resentful considering the fact that they should take o more responsibilities. They are also seen to feel embarrassed sometimes that their parent or that their grandparents are different.

From the above discussion, it becomes clear that dementia is a neurological disorder that can affect the cognitive functioning of human being especially in the later ages of life. This disorder can be of different types and can affect the behaviors, memory as well as cognitive functioning. Different types of dementia are Alzheimer’s disorders, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodes and many others. They have their own causes, signs, and symptoms. Most of the signs and symptoms are overlapping and nearly common among all the dementia types. Various types of diagnosis like laboratory tests, brain scans, neurological evaluation and many others can help to diagnose the issues. This disorder has huge impacts on friends and families and therefore healthcare professionals need to take care or the management of the health of family members and guide them to ensure better quality life.

Treatment Options for People with Dementia

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