Understanding Dementia
What is dementia & its symptoms
Types of dementia
Protecting your brain
Diagnosis & treatment
What is dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking, and behavior. These symptoms include memory loss, problems with reasoning, planning, and judgement, language and speech difficulties, and behavioral changes, to name a few.
Different types of dementia:
Vascular dementia
Alzheimer's disease
Lewy body dementia
Frontotemporal dementia
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Dementia symptoms
Common early symptoms of dementia include:
Forgetfulness
Communication issues
Cognitive problems
Mood changes
Movement issues
Feeling confused/lost
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Is dementia treatable?
While age inevitably brings on some amount of cognitive decline, dementia is not a normal part of aging. It's an indicator of brain disease, and it can be caused by a number of different health issues. The precursor to dementia is called mild cognitive impairment, or MCI.
Depending on the underlying cause of MCI, treating health issues early on may reverse MCI and prevent dementia. Once dementia develops, lifestyle changes and medications can slow, manage or treat somesymptoms, but there is no cure.
Read more
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Next
Common types of dementia
There are several different types of dementia, each with distinct causes and characteristics. The most common forms of dementia are:
Alzheimer’s disease
Lewy body dementia
Vascular dementia
Frontotemporal dementia
Return
Next
Identifying and managing early signs of dementia
Expert Perspective
"In the very early stage, it is extremely difficult to make an accurate diagnosis because so many symptoms can overlap... I do see that (attention problems) a lot where patients come in saying they used to have very good attention and now they're struggling just to continue the tasks that they started... they're just not able to perform as well as they could previously perform at work, and they might have small memory lapses... These are usually the first signs... in order to diagnose dementia, it really does have to affect the activities of daily living."
Dr. Stephanie Collier
WATCH VIDEO
Psychiatrist, McLean Hospital
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Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia where amyloid and tau protein build-ups in the brain cause memory loss, confusion, and eventually severe thinking problems.
Diagnosis
Risk Factors
- memory tests
- brain scans
- blood tests
- age
- family history
- heart health
- lifestyle
Treatment can help with symptoms in the early stages, but scientific consensus is that there is no treatment that can cure, stop, or reverse Alzheimer's.
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Vascular dementia
Vascular dementia is caused by blood flow problems in the brain. Symptoms depend on which part of the brain is affected.
Diagnosis
Risk Factors
- blood pressure
- diabetes
- obesity
- smoking
- strokes
Managing heart health can help prevent vascular dementia.
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Lewy body dementia
Lewy body dementia happens when proteins called Lewy bodies build up in the brain, causing thinking and movement problems.
Symptoms
- Seeing things that aren’t there (hallucinations)
- Sudden changes in alertness
- Movement problems like Parkinson’s
- Sleep issues, like acting out dreams
Some Alzheimer’s treatments can be harmful for people with Lewy body dementia, so getting the right diagnosis is important.
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Frontotemporal dementia
FTD affects the front and side parts of the brain, often causing:
Symptoms
- Personality changes or inappropriate behavior
- Problems speaking, reading, or understanding language
It’s most common in people ages 50 to 60. Bruce Willis was recently diagnosed with this type of dementia, after experiencing aphasia, or trouble speaking.
READ MORE
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Patient talk: Misdiagnosed Lewy body dementia
Patient Perspective
"It wasn't just about memory... The thing that was happening more was, two things. One was, my inability to multitask the way I used to be able to... I was losing my focus, my concentration... But the other part was changes in my personality... I was starting to become quicker to anger, quicker to frustration... One of the hallmarks for Lewy body dementia is what they call REM sleep behavior disorder... You actually act them [dreams] out. So I punched, kick, scream, fell on the floor, knocked over my nightstand, walked into a wall..."
Mike Belleville
WATCH VIDEO
Patient
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Next
Is it Lewy body dementia or Alzheimer’s?
Expert Perspective
"So whereas Alzheimer's disease is mainly a memory problem, a language problem, in Lewy body dementia, we also have memory and language problems. But in addition, there are a lot of other symptoms which [are] also very problematic. And these include psychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations and motor symptoms similar to those we see in Parkinson's disease. And there are also very specific sleep disorders and whole list of other changes... So it's a more complex symptom presentation for these patients."
Professor Dag Aarsland
LBD and Parkinson’s Researcher
READ MORE
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Next
Why early diagnosis matters?
Getting diagnosed early means:
- Future planning while the person is still able
- Starting treatments sooner, which may slow symptoms
- Understanding what type of dementia it is for better care
- Joining clinical trials for new treatments
- Learning how to care for the person as symptoms change
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Want to learn more?
Visit
beingpatient.com
for the latest news and information on brain health and dementia
Return
Understanding Dementia
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Transcript
Understanding Dementia
What is dementia & its symptoms
Types of dementia
Protecting your brain
Diagnosis & treatment
What is dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking, and behavior. These symptoms include memory loss, problems with reasoning, planning, and judgement, language and speech difficulties, and behavioral changes, to name a few.
Different types of dementia:
Vascular dementia
Alzheimer's disease
Lewy body dementia
Frontotemporal dementia
Return
Next
Dementia symptoms
Common early symptoms of dementia include:
Forgetfulness
Communication issues
Cognitive problems
Mood changes
Movement issues
Feeling confused/lost
Return
Next
Is dementia treatable?
While age inevitably brings on some amount of cognitive decline, dementia is not a normal part of aging. It's an indicator of brain disease, and it can be caused by a number of different health issues. The precursor to dementia is called mild cognitive impairment, or MCI.
Depending on the underlying cause of MCI, treating health issues early on may reverse MCI and prevent dementia. Once dementia develops, lifestyle changes and medications can slow, manage or treat somesymptoms, but there is no cure.
Read more
Return
Next
Common types of dementia
There are several different types of dementia, each with distinct causes and characteristics. The most common forms of dementia are:
Alzheimer’s disease
Lewy body dementia
Vascular dementia
Frontotemporal dementia
Return
Next
Identifying and managing early signs of dementia
Expert Perspective
"In the very early stage, it is extremely difficult to make an accurate diagnosis because so many symptoms can overlap... I do see that (attention problems) a lot where patients come in saying they used to have very good attention and now they're struggling just to continue the tasks that they started... they're just not able to perform as well as they could previously perform at work, and they might have small memory lapses... These are usually the first signs... in order to diagnose dementia, it really does have to affect the activities of daily living."
Dr. Stephanie Collier
WATCH VIDEO
Psychiatrist, McLean Hospital
Return
Next
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia where amyloid and tau protein build-ups in the brain cause memory loss, confusion, and eventually severe thinking problems.
Diagnosis
Risk Factors
Treatment can help with symptoms in the early stages, but scientific consensus is that there is no treatment that can cure, stop, or reverse Alzheimer's.
Return
Next
Vascular dementia
Vascular dementia is caused by blood flow problems in the brain. Symptoms depend on which part of the brain is affected.
Diagnosis
Risk Factors
Managing heart health can help prevent vascular dementia.
Return
Next
Lewy body dementia
Lewy body dementia happens when proteins called Lewy bodies build up in the brain, causing thinking and movement problems.
Symptoms
Some Alzheimer’s treatments can be harmful for people with Lewy body dementia, so getting the right diagnosis is important.
Return
Next
Frontotemporal dementia
FTD affects the front and side parts of the brain, often causing:
Symptoms
It’s most common in people ages 50 to 60. Bruce Willis was recently diagnosed with this type of dementia, after experiencing aphasia, or trouble speaking.
READ MORE
Return
Next
Patient talk: Misdiagnosed Lewy body dementia
Patient Perspective
"It wasn't just about memory... The thing that was happening more was, two things. One was, my inability to multitask the way I used to be able to... I was losing my focus, my concentration... But the other part was changes in my personality... I was starting to become quicker to anger, quicker to frustration... One of the hallmarks for Lewy body dementia is what they call REM sleep behavior disorder... You actually act them [dreams] out. So I punched, kick, scream, fell on the floor, knocked over my nightstand, walked into a wall..."
Mike Belleville
WATCH VIDEO
Patient
Return
Next
Is it Lewy body dementia or Alzheimer’s?
Expert Perspective
"So whereas Alzheimer's disease is mainly a memory problem, a language problem, in Lewy body dementia, we also have memory and language problems. But in addition, there are a lot of other symptoms which [are] also very problematic. And these include psychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations and motor symptoms similar to those we see in Parkinson's disease. And there are also very specific sleep disorders and whole list of other changes... So it's a more complex symptom presentation for these patients."
Professor Dag Aarsland
LBD and Parkinson’s Researcher
READ MORE
Return
Next
Why early diagnosis matters?
Getting diagnosed early means:
Return
Next
Want to learn more?
Visit
beingpatient.com
for the latest news and information on brain health and dementia
Return