*Dementia symptoms may include: asking the same questions repeatedly becoming lost in familiar places unable to follow directions getting disoriented about time, people, and places neglecting personal safety, hygiene, and nutrition.
*Source - Alzheimer's Daily News & National Institute on Aging How many times have we caught ourselves silently wondering if age has finally caught up with us? Most of the time, it is merely a case of simple forgetfulness.
Many older people worry about becoming more forgetful.
They think forgetfulness is the first sign of Alzheimer's Disease.
In the past, memory loss and confusion were considered a normal part of aging.
However, scientists now know that most people remain both alert and able as they age, although it may take them longer to remember things.
People who have serious changes in their memory, personality, and behavior may suffer from a form of brain disease called dementia.
Dementia seriously affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities.
AD is one of many types of dementia.
Dementia basically means difficulty or the inability to think clearly.
It is characterized by atypical behavior; confusion; poor judgment; failure to recognize people, places and things; personality changes; and, emotional disturbances.
The more clinical definition would be the loss of cognitive or intellectual function or a clinical state characterized by loss of function in multiple cognitive domains.
The term dementia describes a group of symptoms that are caused by changes in brain function.
Simply put, dementia is a symptom.
If you woke up one morning with a cough, you wouldn't automatically assume it was pneumonia or even the flu.
It could be any one of a number of illnesses that include a cough as one of their symptoms.
The same holds true for dementia and AD.
Dementia is but a single symptom of AD.
Yet dementia is also symptomatic of many other conditions besides AD, including hypothyroidism, stroke, and even depression.
The appearance of this single symptom need not result in a self-diagnosis of AD.
On the other hand, AD is the number one cause of dementia in older people.
AD accounts for approximately 70 percent of all dementias for persons older than 85.
But that still leaves around 30 percent that could be due to other conditions.
For these reasons it is critical to obtain a professional diagnosis from a qualified doctor, one who specializes in memory or cognitive disorders.
Only in this way can the actual cause be identified and the proper treatment prescribed.
*Source - Alzheimer's Daily News & National Institute on Aging How many times have we caught ourselves silently wondering if age has finally caught up with us? Most of the time, it is merely a case of simple forgetfulness.
Many older people worry about becoming more forgetful.
They think forgetfulness is the first sign of Alzheimer's Disease.
In the past, memory loss and confusion were considered a normal part of aging.
However, scientists now know that most people remain both alert and able as they age, although it may take them longer to remember things.
People who have serious changes in their memory, personality, and behavior may suffer from a form of brain disease called dementia.
Dementia seriously affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities.
AD is one of many types of dementia.
Dementia basically means difficulty or the inability to think clearly.
It is characterized by atypical behavior; confusion; poor judgment; failure to recognize people, places and things; personality changes; and, emotional disturbances.
The more clinical definition would be the loss of cognitive or intellectual function or a clinical state characterized by loss of function in multiple cognitive domains.
The term dementia describes a group of symptoms that are caused by changes in brain function.
Simply put, dementia is a symptom.
If you woke up one morning with a cough, you wouldn't automatically assume it was pneumonia or even the flu.
It could be any one of a number of illnesses that include a cough as one of their symptoms.
The same holds true for dementia and AD.
Dementia is but a single symptom of AD.
Yet dementia is also symptomatic of many other conditions besides AD, including hypothyroidism, stroke, and even depression.
The appearance of this single symptom need not result in a self-diagnosis of AD.
On the other hand, AD is the number one cause of dementia in older people.
AD accounts for approximately 70 percent of all dementias for persons older than 85.
But that still leaves around 30 percent that could be due to other conditions.
For these reasons it is critical to obtain a professional diagnosis from a qualified doctor, one who specializes in memory or cognitive disorders.
Only in this way can the actual cause be identified and the proper treatment prescribed.
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