Dementia is a syndrome associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning. It just does not represent memory loss but also affects how people speak, think, feel and behave.
Contrary to popular opinion, dementia is not a natural phase of growing old. According to various observations, the causes of dementia are many and different types of dementia exist.
Once in a while it is normal to forget things easily, maybe because you are overly stressed, tired or just recovering from an ailment. However, if you find yourself being increasingly forgetful outside these aforementioned instances your age is 60 and above.
It is more probable than not that you are experiencing the early symptoms of dementia, i f after contacting your family doctor you need a nootropic drug to help combat this devastating disease, it is highly recommended that you check for info at rhtp.org.
Another wrong opinion shared by many is people mixing the difference between Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. I repeat Alzheimer’s disease is not synonymous with dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is only a type among the numerous types of dementia.
What are the symptoms of dementia? Read on to find out about these in the next paragraph.
Anyone experiencing problems with any of the following is most likely suffering from dementia:
- memory loss
- judgement
- Mood swings
- Incorrect use of words or trouble speaking
- understanding
- Difficulties in movement
- difficulties doing daily activities
- thinking speed
- mental sharpness and quickness
- People with dementia can lose interest in their usual activities, and may have problems managing their behaviour or emotions.
They may also find social situations difficult and lose interest in relationships, Hallucinations is also a symptom of one affected with dementia.
The symptoms of dementia get worse with time and in the late stage . affected people will not be able to take care of themselves and may lose their ability to communicate.
In order to assess the progress of dementia, several scales have been developed. The most commonly used of this scale is the Global Deterioration Scale for Assessment of Primary Degenerative Dementia (GDS also known as the Reisberg Scale.
According to the GDS, there are seven different stages of Alzheimer’s disease correlating which can be further classified into 4 distinct categories:
- no Alzheimer’s
- mild Alzheimer’s (or early-stage)
- moderate Alzheimer’s (or middle-stage),
- and severe Alzheimer’s (late-stage).
I will talk briefly about each of these 7 stages in the ensuing paragraphs.
Stage 1: There are no signs of dementia, the person functions normally, and is mentally healthy. People with no dementia diagnosis are considered stage 1.
Stage 2: In this stage, there is normal forgetfulness that often attributed normal signs of aging
Stage 3: one experiences increased forgetfulness, decreased performance at work, speech difficulty among others.
Stage 4: People in this stage will have difficulty concentrating, will forget recent events, and will have difficulty doing things themselves
Stage 5 & 6: Communication is severely disabled and delusions, and agitation may occur frequently.
Stage 7: A person in this stage usually has no ability to speak or communicate and requires assistance with most activities.
