Friday, November 30, 2012

Dementia – causes, symptoms and treatment

Aged people tend to take a longer time to recall names, dates and many other things. Though we all tend to forget these things but for the elderly, the reasons are different. In some cases, such forgetfulness can develop into more severe conditions like memory loss. According to physicians, recurrent memory loss can be one of the first signs of dementia. Mental stress and depression is also one of the evident symptoms of it. Such a medical condition not only causes lack of memory but may also result in the loss of reasoning ability of a person.

The problem of dementia may leave a person fully or partially dependent upon a caretaker who can assist him for the everyday tasks and also provide medical assistance to him. As seen in most of the cases, the other family members are not able to provide this type of assistance to the patient; they either hire a caretaker for them or send them to dementia care homes. Depending upon the condition of the patient and the severity of the disease, any of the two methods can be chosen.

Causes of dementia
In this medical condition called dementia, the brain of a person loses its ability to function in its normal way. The causes of its occurrence can be many but commonly, it has been observed that people who have experienced head injuries, brain tumors, strokes and natural relapse of mental capabilities fall prey to this disease. A more acute form of this disease is Alzheimer. But with the advancement in medical science, it has been found that dementia can be cured with proper medication and care.

Symptoms of dementia
The foremost symptom of this health condition is memory loss. Either the person himself or his near and dear ones get to notice this symptom first. It starts with forgetting names and dates and when it develops consequently, it can make the person unable to do his simple everyday tasks. He will face some kind of difficulty in tasks such as making plans for the day, making few basic decisions, struggling with his memory during eating, bathing, using washroom and even understanding and using specific words. Sometimes, he will forget what they were doing in the middle of the job. He can get confused about choosing the right way to his own home and even fail to recognize his family members at times.

Treatment for dementia
In most of the cases, dementia is incurable but in a few fortunate cases, the effects of this disease can be lessened with the help of the right medication and choice of lifestyle. Such treatment can be given to the patient if he is in the initial stage of the problem. But when the disease reaches to more advance stages, there is no other solution than sending them to dementia care homes. If the family members want to keep the patient with them, they can also consider hiring a permanent custodian who will take care of the patient while the patient being at his home. If a full day custodian is not required, hourly based service can also be taken.

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