Understanding Dementia
Image taken from Alzheimers Research Blog on the risks of smoking and dementia
Dementia does not discriminate, it does not care how old you are, the colour of your skin, what or who you believe in.
Although dementia is more common in elderly people and is no longer seen as ‘going senile in their old age’ it can appear in people of all ages. To illustrate this the BBC news website published articles on the 8th April 2019 about a 2 year old girl who has dementia as a result of Batten disease (click here). Some forms of dementia such as Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) tend to typically target slightly younger people (than the commonly elderly people we think of). Articles online cite various ages for the risks of getting LBD with the youngest being over 50. However the NHS state that it is rare in people under 65. (Click here to read more from the NHS on Lewy Body Dementia. [NHS article last reviewed on the 9th December 2019])
Even famous people get dementia, the Independent news website published articles claiming that famous comedian and actor Robin Williams had Lewy Body Dimentia (click here). Dame Barbara, 81, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2014 (click here), Monty Python Star Terry Jones passed away with Frontotemporal dementia known as a primary progressive aphasia (PPA). (Click here to read more on the event).
Dementia can come in many forms (click here) and with many different forms there are equally many different symptoms but a lot of similarities, and experts are still learning about new forms of dementia such as the new type of Dementia reported in April 2019 (click here to read more.). Some can be fine one moment and severely impaired the next, this usually happens when the person involved sufferers a stroke or damage to the brain. The resultant damage to the brain from a stroke is due to the lack of blood to the brain. This usually means they are left with vascular dementia. Others may present symptoms that slowly appear over time, gradually becoming more and more severe. Others may experience audio and visual hallucinations and problems with speech, posture and walking.
People with dementia cope in different ways, some withdraw into themselves rarely interacting with people and not wanting to do activities because they ‘can’t do it’, 'don't want to be a burden' or 'don't want to bring down the quality' in cases of group activities such as choirs or orchestras. Others may get louder and disruptive as they forget how or why they need to control the volume of their voice. Others may struggle to come to terms with their condition or the fact that they need more and more help from their partners and family leading to anger and frustration which they can struggle to control or process. Unfortunately this may manifest itself in physical harm either to themselves or those around them. It is important to say that this is not OK and you must tell a health professional immediately.
Regardless of what may be each person is different and will present different symptoms, just like personalities no two people are the same. Dwelling on what may be in some aspects can help you plan for the future in regards to things like finance and care, but equally it is important to solve things one step at a time and not get bogged down in what may be, for it may never come to be.
It is however very important that you are happy with your diagnosis. The right diagnosis can be like using the right sized screw driver, you may be able to get the wrong size to work but it won't be as effective as the one that fits best. The same can be true for medication for example if you're treating Lewy Body Dementia as Alzheimer's the effectiveness and the benefits that you or your loved one may receive with the right medication will diminish the longer the misdiagnosis holds. The way dementia is being diagnosed is changing and scientists learn more about dementia, the Alzheimer's Research Society highlight the benefits and try to debunk some of the myths of analyzing Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) obtained from a lumbar puncture to diagnose dementia (Click here to read more). Sounds scary I know, but it's not as scary as it may sound and the benefits of the right diagnosis should out way whatever fear you have such as opening up avenues of joining in research initiatives like 'Join Dementia Research'. (click here to read more)
In June 2018 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated their guidelines for diagnosing dementia to include the alaysis of CSF by lumbar puntcture by appropriate (Click here to read the guidelines)
So if you're not completely convinced you've got the right diagnosis and haven't had a lumbar puncture, try talking to you're GP about having one.
Disclaimer - please note the links on this page are also found in the 'News' section of our website.
Although dementia is more common in elderly people and is no longer seen as ‘going senile in their old age’ it can appear in people of all ages. To illustrate this the BBC news website published articles on the 8th April 2019 about a 2 year old girl who has dementia as a result of Batten disease (click here). Some forms of dementia such as Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) tend to typically target slightly younger people (than the commonly elderly people we think of). Articles online cite various ages for the risks of getting LBD with the youngest being over 50. However the NHS state that it is rare in people under 65. (Click here to read more from the NHS on Lewy Body Dementia. [NHS article last reviewed on the 9th December 2019])
Even famous people get dementia, the Independent news website published articles claiming that famous comedian and actor Robin Williams had Lewy Body Dimentia (click here). Dame Barbara, 81, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2014 (click here), Monty Python Star Terry Jones passed away with Frontotemporal dementia known as a primary progressive aphasia (PPA). (Click here to read more on the event).
Dementia can come in many forms (click here) and with many different forms there are equally many different symptoms but a lot of similarities, and experts are still learning about new forms of dementia such as the new type of Dementia reported in April 2019 (click here to read more.). Some can be fine one moment and severely impaired the next, this usually happens when the person involved sufferers a stroke or damage to the brain. The resultant damage to the brain from a stroke is due to the lack of blood to the brain. This usually means they are left with vascular dementia. Others may present symptoms that slowly appear over time, gradually becoming more and more severe. Others may experience audio and visual hallucinations and problems with speech, posture and walking.
People with dementia cope in different ways, some withdraw into themselves rarely interacting with people and not wanting to do activities because they ‘can’t do it’, 'don't want to be a burden' or 'don't want to bring down the quality' in cases of group activities such as choirs or orchestras. Others may get louder and disruptive as they forget how or why they need to control the volume of their voice. Others may struggle to come to terms with their condition or the fact that they need more and more help from their partners and family leading to anger and frustration which they can struggle to control or process. Unfortunately this may manifest itself in physical harm either to themselves or those around them. It is important to say that this is not OK and you must tell a health professional immediately.
Regardless of what may be each person is different and will present different symptoms, just like personalities no two people are the same. Dwelling on what may be in some aspects can help you plan for the future in regards to things like finance and care, but equally it is important to solve things one step at a time and not get bogged down in what may be, for it may never come to be.
It is however very important that you are happy with your diagnosis. The right diagnosis can be like using the right sized screw driver, you may be able to get the wrong size to work but it won't be as effective as the one that fits best. The same can be true for medication for example if you're treating Lewy Body Dementia as Alzheimer's the effectiveness and the benefits that you or your loved one may receive with the right medication will diminish the longer the misdiagnosis holds. The way dementia is being diagnosed is changing and scientists learn more about dementia, the Alzheimer's Research Society highlight the benefits and try to debunk some of the myths of analyzing Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) obtained from a lumbar puncture to diagnose dementia (Click here to read more). Sounds scary I know, but it's not as scary as it may sound and the benefits of the right diagnosis should out way whatever fear you have such as opening up avenues of joining in research initiatives like 'Join Dementia Research'. (click here to read more)
In June 2018 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated their guidelines for diagnosing dementia to include the alaysis of CSF by lumbar puntcture by appropriate (Click here to read the guidelines)
So if you're not completely convinced you've got the right diagnosis and haven't had a lumbar puncture, try talking to you're GP about having one.
Disclaimer - please note the links on this page are also found in the 'News' section of our website.
