By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
When humans start to age, the body and system tend to undergo certain changes that may alter the normal body functions from what they originally used to be. For some fortunate people, aging comes with grace while for others, it comes with both health and physical challenges which may be either manageable or quite severe to the extent of affecting daily living and activities.
Dementia is one of the serious health challenges that come along with aging. It is a general term that describes a group of diseases and illnesses that likely affect one’s thinking, reasoning, memory, personality, mood, behavior and social abilities. It is not caused by a specific disease, but by several diseases combined.
The term dementia, is not a specific or single disease but a general term that covers a wide range of medical conditions that involve memory loss and this memory loss is caused by a number of things. It is important to note that memory loss alone doesn’t imply that one has dementia, although it can often be one of the early signs of the condition.
Health conditions grouped under the broad term “dementia” are usually caused by abnormal brain changes. These changes are capable of triggering a decline in one’s cognitive abilities, which is the ability to think. It can be severe enough to impair daily life and independent function. It is also capable of affecting one’s behavior, feelings and relationships.
Currently, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 55 million people around the world have dementia and over 60% of them live in low-and middle-income countries. It also stated that each year, there are about 10 million new cases of dementia around the world.
As earlier stated, the illness affects millions of people and it most commonly affects older people. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) in the United States has revealed that about one-third of all people between the age of 85 and older may have some form of dementia, although it is not a normal aspect of the aging process as a lot of people live into their 90s and beyond without having any signs or symptoms of dementia.
The illness ranges in severity. It could go from the mildest stage, which is when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, which has to do with when the person has to depend entirely on others for basic activities of daily living, such as feeding. The illness also tends to get worse over time, and for some people with the illness, emotions cannot be controlled and their personalities may also change.
WHO, according to Valuechain findings, has revealed that dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death and is also one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people around the world.
There are various forms and causes of dementia and, depending on the cause, some dementia symptoms might be reversible. However, there are a number of causes and types of dementia that are not reversible, such as Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form and cause, as well as vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, Frontotemporal dementia and mixed dementia.
For Alzheimer’s disease, a small percentage is related to mutations of three genes, which can be passed down from parent to child. Patients of this disease have plaques and tangles inside their brains. These plaques are clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid, while the tangles are fibrous tangles made up of tau protein. This kind of dementia may be the cause of 60 to 70 per cent of total cases.
On its part, vascular dementia is caused by damage to the vessels that supply blood to the brain. The most common signs of vascular dementia include difficulties with problem-solving, slowed thinking, and loss of focus and organization, and these signs tend to be more evident than memory loss.
Then, Lewy body dementia is caused by abnormal balloon-like clumps of protein that have been found in the brain. Common signs and symptoms of this include seeing things that are not really there, that is visual hallucinations. It also causes difficulties when it comes to focusing and paying attention.
Then, frontotemporal dementia is known for the breakdown of nerve cells and their connections in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. These are the areas generally associated with personality, behavior and language. It usually affects behavior, personality, thinking, judgment, language, as well as movement.
Mixed dementia involves a combination of two or more causes or types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia. Currently, studies are ongoing to determine how having mixed dementia affects symptoms and its possible treatments.
The symptoms of the illness vary and depend on the actual cause. The symptoms of dementia come up when once-healthy nerve cells in the brain stop functioning or lose connections with other brain cells and die. Although it is normal for everyone to lose some nerve cells as they age, people with dementia experience much greater loss of these cells.
Generally, the symptoms can either be cognitive, which has to do with the ability to think, or it could be psychological. The cognitive symptoms can include difficulty in handling complex tasks, memory loss, which is usually noticed by someone else, confusion, poor judgment and disorientation, difficulty in speech, understanding and communication, not caring about other people’s feelings and losing balance and problems with movement, among others. Then, the psychological symptoms could include, personality changes, paranoia, depression, and hallucinations, among others.
According to WHO, there is no known cure for dementia, but there are many things that can be done to support both people living with the illness and those who take care of them. There are steps that people with dementia can take towards maintaining and prompting their quality of life, as well as their well-being. Among these steps that can be taken are for older people to be physically active and engage in physical activities, as well as social interactions that stimulate the brain and maintain daily function. Also, eating healthy, avoiding smoking and ingesting alcohol, going for regular check-ups with doctors, writing down everyday tasks and appointments to help remember important things, among others, are also ways to prevent the illness.
Although there are also some medications that can help manage dementia symptoms, they should be prescribed by a qualified Doctor.
It is important to note and recognize that providing care and support for a person living with dementia can be quite challenging and can have an impact on the health and well-being of those who care for them. Caregivers are advised to reach out to family members, friends, and professionals for help, take regular breaks and look after themselves as well, and also try stress management techniques.
While age is the strongest known risk factor for dementia, the illness is not an inevitable consequence of biological aging. Other risk factors of dementia include depression, social isolation, low educational attainment, cognitive inactivity and air pollution.
And while dementia is usually more common among the elderly, it can also affect young people as well, and this can be seen when people experience onset symptoms of the illness before the age of 65. WHO studies have shown that this accounts for nine percent of dementia cases.
In the human body, the brain controls all the body functions and, therefore, when brain functions begin to decline and cause the overall health of a person to eventually be at risk, many illnesses and conditions can come up. Some of the possible complications of dementia include dehydration and malnutrition, bed sores, injuries and bone fractures from falls, strokes, heart attacks and kidney failure, among others. Therefore, patients with illness deserve to be treated and handled with care, love, and patience.