1. Losing Your Mind
Dementia is basically a loss of accurate mental functioning. Dementia is a broad term to describe various types of brain functioning degeneration that occurs within the lifetime of some individuals. Cognitive functioning is often severely decreased in some cases. For example, forgetting how to go to the bathroom, or where your house is, or how to tie your shoes can all be signs of dementia. Indeed, this loss of cognitive ability happens in varying degrees and will not necessarily happen to all people. There seems to be a biological connection to dementia that effects certain people, while others stay very sharp throughout their lives.
2. I Just Can't Remember
Various types of dementia tend to manifest in different ways. One of the most well known forms of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, a kind of corticol dementia that affects the cerebral cortex of the brain. The cerebral cortex is responsible for regulating memory and language recognition. These types of conditions are what is ordinarily thought of as dementia. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is another example of corticol dementia.
3. Not the Same Person
Subcorticol dementias affect the parts of the brain beneath the cortex, resulting in a slightly different course of the disease. Individuals with subcorticol dementia show changes over time in personality, attention span and thinking speed. The effects on the brain aren't nearly as noticeable on the onset, but over time can be very marked. Parkinson's disease, Huntington Disease, and AIDS dementia complex are examples of this slow degeneration of brain functioning.
4. Another Form of Dementia
Vascular dementia is a form of dementia that is typically brought on by a series of small strokes or other changes in the brain's blood supply. The very nature of a stroke interferes with the normal functioning of the brain and can cause various problems in cognitive functioning. Some ways to identify the symptoms of this form of dementia are noticing things like the ability to control one's emotional display, like laughing one minute crying the next. Difficulty following instructions, problems handling money and wandering around aimlessly are also other signs. These symptoms are especially important if they occur after a stroke or other similar trauma to the brain.
5. Early Treatment is Best
Dementia treatments vary according to the portion of the brain affected and the severity of the dementia. Recognizing early signs of dementia is a huge first step in providing proper treatment. Medications are typically prescribed to help with cognitive functioning and memory. Keeping the mental muscles exercised and a close monitoring of dementia symptoms can be beneficial in slowing the degeneration of brain functioning. Consulting with a geriatrician would be beneficial in finding a specific treatment plan for the type of dementia with which you're dealing.
