Everything To Know About Dementia: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Types, Prevention & Treatment

What Is Dementia?

Dementia is a term used to describe a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking, and social abilities. These changes are severe enough to interfere with social or occupational functioning.

It isn’t a specific disease; it’s a group of symptoms caused by other conditions. About 5%–8% of adults over 65 have some form of dementia. This percentage doubles every 5 years after 65. Women have a greater risk of developing dementia during their lifetime. This is because women typically outlive men, and old age is the biggest risk factor for this disease.

Its symptoms may improve with treatment, but many of the diseases that cause dementia aren’t curable.

This article highlights the signs and symptoms, causes, types, and treatment of this condition.

Signs/Symptoms

Some of its signs and symptoms include:

Short-term memory loss
Difficulty communicating or finding words
Difficulty with visual and spatial abilities, such as getting lost while driving
Trouble with complex but familiar tasks, like fixing a meal or paying bills
Personality changes, like depression, agitation, paranoia, and mood swings

Causes & Types

These types of dementia can be managed but are not reversible:

Alzheimer’s disease. This is the most common cause of dementia.
Vascular dementia. This may occur in people who have long-term high blood pressure, severe hardening of the arteries, or several small strokes. Strokes are the second most common cause of dementia.
Parkinson’s disease. Dementia is common in people with this condition.
Dementia with Lewy bodies. It is the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. It can cause short-term memory loss.
Frontotemporal dementia. This is a group of diseases that includes Pick’s disease.
Huntington’s disease. This is caused by a genetic mutation
Leukoencephalopathies. These are diseases that affect the deeper, white-matter brain tissue.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This is a rare and fatal condition that destroys brain tissue.
Some cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Some reversible types are:

Alcohol or substance use disorder
Brain Tumors
Subdural hematomas, blood clots beneath the outer covering of the brain
Normal-pressure hydrocephalus is a buildup of fluid in the brain
Metabolic disorders such as a vitamin B12 deficiency
Low levels of thyroid hormones, called hypothyroidism
Low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia
HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND)

Stages

Stage 1: No impairment. The patient has no problems.
Stage 2: questionable impairment. The patient begins to have some difficulty but can still function independently.
Stage 3: Mild impairment. The patient has obvious, but still mild difficulty with daily activities.
Stage 4: Moderate impairment. The patient needs help with caring for him or herself as well as with carrying out daily activities.
Stage 5: Moderate to severe impairment
Stage 6: Severe Impairment; patients are unable to function independently.
Stage 7: Very severe impairment. Body and mental functions begin to fail.

Risk factors

These are factors that increase your chances of dementia:

Age
Genetics
Family history
Illnesses including diabetes, Down syndrome, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and sleep apnea
Depression
Smoking, heavy alcohol use, poor diet, and lack of exercise
Brain injury
Strokes
Vitamin and nutritional deficiencies
Infection of the brain (for example, meningitis and syphilis)

Treatment

For treatment, doctors will treat whatever is causing it. About 20% of the causes of dementia are reversible. If the cause of a person’s dementia is not reversible, treatment will focus on managing symptoms, particularly agitation and other emotional concerns.

Prevention

There’s no sure way to prevent dementia, but there are steps you can take that might help. More research is needed, but it might be beneficial to do the following: