Dementia

GENERAL INFORMATION:

What is it? Dementia (duh-men-shuh) is an illness that effects a person's thinking and memory. It also affects ability to problem solve and make the right decisions. Dementia also causes problems in communicating with others. It may cause you to be confused and have problems driving, cooking, or bathing. You may also have changes in how you act. Dementia affects how you feel about yourself and life. It is a serious illness and usually gets worse. With treatment, the effects of dementia can be controlled. Treatment will allow you to live life as you usually would for a longer time.

Causes: An illness or an injury causes dementia. Brain cells are not able to work right, and the cells in the brain might even be killed. Dementia is not a normal part of aging. Most older people do not get dementia. You may be at higher risk for getting dementia if you are over 65 years old. Being older than 80 years may make it even more likely to get dementia. You may be at a higher risk if you have a family member with dementia. The following list of problems may cause dementia.

• AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).
  
  
• Alzheimer's (alls-hi-mers) disease.
  
  
• Depression.
  
  
• Drug toxicity (tox-ih-suh-t). This means that you have too much medicine in your body.
  
  
• Head injury.
  
  
• Heart disease.
  
  
• Huntington's chorea (ko-ree-uh).
  
  
• Long-term alcohol abuse.
  
  
• Multiple (mull-tih-pull) sclerosis (skler-o-sus).
  
  
• Parkinson's disease.
  
  
• Some viruses.
  
  
• Strokes.
  
  
• Syphilis (sif-uh-lus).

Signs and Symptoms: Signs of dementia usually start slowly and begin later in life. A stroke or head injury can make signs start earlier. It may be unsafe for you to be alone if the signs and symptoms worsen. For example, you may forget and leave a burner lit on the stove. Or, you may forget where you are or where you live. You may have any of the following signs and symptoms.

• Being nervous.
  
  
• Changes in the way you usually act and feel, like having mood swings, getting angry easily, fighting, yelling, or hitting.
  
  
• You may be confused.
  
  
• You may feel very sad most of the time.
  
  
• You may want to be alone all of the time. Your memory may get worse.
  
  
• You may have problems with math, like not being able to make your checkbook come out right.
  
  
• You may have problems sleeping.
  
  
• You may have trouble doing things you could easily do before.

Care: You may hide the need for treatment because you feel ashamed. Your care may include counseling meetings in the caregiver's office or clinic if dementia is found early. You and family members may have meetings with your caregiver. These meetings can help you and family members understand dementia. Caregivers will ask you and your family questions about how you feel now. You may also be asked how you have felt in the past. Caregivers will help you talk about your feelings and teach you the best way to care for yourself. Medicine may be used to treat your illness. You may need to go to the hospital for other tests and treatment.

Coping: Accepting that you have dementia is hard. You and those close to you may feel angry, sad, or frightened. These are normal feelings. Talk to your caregivers, family, and friends about your feelings. Your family may also want to join a support group. This is a group of people who have relatives with dementia. Ask your caregiver for the names and numbers of support groups in your town.

• Ask your health care provider if they know about books that you can read. Reading about your illness might help you better understand it. You can also call or write one of the following national organizations for more information.
  
  

• Alzheimer's Association
  225 N.Michigan Ave, FL 17
  Chicago, IL 60601-7633
  Phone: 1-800-272-3900
  Web Address: http://www.alz.org
  

• National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
  Colonial Place Three, 2107 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300
  Arlington, VA 22201
  Phone: 1-703-524-7600
  Phone: 1-800-950-6264
  Web Address: http://www.nami.org
  

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Public Information & Communication Branch
  6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8184, MSC 9663
  Bethesda, MD 20892-9663
  Phone: 1-301-443-4513
  Phone: 1-866-615-6464
  Web Address: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
  

CARE AGREEMENT:

You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

Copyright © 2008 Thomson Healthcare Inc. All rights reserved. Information is for End User's use only and may not be sold, redistributed or otherwise used for commercial purposes.

The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.

Link to Page

Print Page

Email Page