Dementia, a severe neurological disorder, has a rate of incidence that doubles every five years between the ages of 60 and 90, according to the Merck Manual of Geriatrics. Dementia is more than age-related memory problems--the patient has difficulty with judgment and problem solving and loses his ability to care for himself. Multiple forms of dementia exist, such as progressive dementias (which include Alzheimer's disease), vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia.
Non-Reversible Causes
Progressive dementias and dementias caused by another disease, like Parkinson's disease, cannot be reversed. Each of these dementias have different causes. For example, Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia in the 65-and-older population, is caused by damage to the brain cells, according to the Mayo Clinic; the brain cells are damaged by a build up of plaques and tangles, two types of proteins. Lewy body dementia is also caused by abnormal clumps of protein. Vascular dementia arises when the patient suffers from multiple small strokes. The cause of frontotemporal dementia, however, does not have a known cause, though the Mayo Clinic notes that it may be due to genetics.
Reversible Causes
The National Institutes of Health notes that some other types of dementia have reversible causes. If these causes are detected early, the dementia can be stopped, or the damage to the brain can be reversed. Some of these causes are lifestyle related, such as chronic alcohol abuse and low vitamin B12 levels from poor diet. Changes in the patient's calcium, sodium or blood sugar levels can also cause a form of dementia. Brain tumors and normal pressure hydrocephalus, which is an abnormal rise in the cerebrospinal fluid, are also reversible causes of dementia.
Early Symptoms
Memory problems are noticeable early in dementia. For example, the patient gets lost in well-known areas and starts misplacing items. Language problems also begin in the early stage of dementia, causing the patient to have problems finding the correct word. Other early symptoms include a flat mood, personality changes and a loss of social skills.
Moderate to Severe Symptoms
When the patient has a more advanced case of dementia, she has both anterograde amnesia (problems forming new memories) and retrograde amnesia (problems recalling stored memories). In severe dementia, the patient can no longer remember her family members. Language problems in moderate dementia include problems reading, writing and speaking; this results in a total loss of language skills in the end stage of the disorder. Poor judgment, hallucinations and delusions can also occur. The NIH adds that in advanced dementia, the patient cannot perform basic tasks needed for living, such as feeding or washing herself.
