In Canada alone there are over 747,000 individuals living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) or another dementia. This is over 14.9% of Canadians aged 65 and older. As of 2015, there are 47.5 million people worldwide living with dementia, and that number will increase to an estimated 75.6 million by 2030. It is clear that AD and dementia are global health issues that must be addressed. However, first it is important to understand the causes, symptoms, and differences between AD and dementia. Many people often interchange the two diseases, but they are in fact distinct from one another.
Dementia
The term “dementia” is often associated with the cognitive decline of aging. Dementia is a brain disorder which involves degeneration of the cerebral cortex, the region of the brain responsible for thoughts, memories, actions and personality. As a result, communication and performance of daily activities is negatively impacted. Dementia is an umbrella term for a set of symptoms which include language difficulty, loss of recent memory and poor judgment. Ninety percent of the time, an accurate diagnosis can be achieved via blood tests, mental health evaluation, neuropsychological evaluation, brain scans, and more.
There are several causes of dementia, including:
- Alzheimer’s Disease: the leading cause of dementia
- Vascular dementia: 2nd most common cause, accounting for 20% of dementia cases. Occurs when deposits of fat, dead cells or other debris partially or completely block blood flow causing strokes and interrupting blood flow to brain.
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Dementia with Lewy bodies
- Frontotemporal Dementia
- Huntington’s Disease
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Once the cause of dementia is found, appropriate treatment can begin.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a specific form of dementia that affects parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language. AD is the cause of 60-70% of dementia. The early symptoms include forgetfulness and mild confusion. As symptoms worsen, there is a gradual loss of memory (such as recent memory). The rate in which symptoms worsen varies from person to person.
Brain changes due to AD lead to trouble with:
1) Memory: as memory loss persists and worsens, this affects functionality at work and at home.
2) Thinking and reasoning: difficulty concentrating and thinking. For example, abstract concepts like numbers become a challenge. Difficulty in: multitasking, managing finances, balancing checkbooks & paying bills on time. Eventually, the person may lose their ability to recognize numbers entirely.
3) Making judgments and decisions: responses to everyday problems are increasingly challenging.
4) Planning and performing familiar tasks: Cooking a familiar meal or playing a favorite game is challenging. Advanced Alzheimer’s Disease can cause the loss of basic skills such as dressing or bathing.
5) Changes in personality and behavior: the disease can cause symptoms such as: depression, apathy, social withdrawal, mood swings, distrust in others, aggressiveness, change in sleeping habits, wandering, etc.
Skills and habits that are learned early in life are the last to be lost to the disease. The ability to read, dance and sing, enjoy music, tell stories and reminisce are retained until the disease becomes aggressive.
The causes of AD are not yet fully understood. Most of the time, the cause is believed to be a combination of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors which affect the brain. A very small fraction (less than 5%) of the time, genetic changes result in a guarantee that a person will develop AD. While the causes are not yet known, the effects of the disease are obvious. Alzheimer’s Disease causes damage and death to brain cells. Consequently, there are fewer brain cells and fewer connections among surviving cells which eventually results in brain shrinkage. Plaques and tangles are two hallmark abnormalities found in the brain tissue of AD patients.
Dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease or Dementia
Seeing a loved one develop Alzheimer’s Disease or Dementia can be extremely difficult and emotionally testing. If you are looking for Alzheimer care or dementia care in Vancouver or the lower mainland, a qualified caregiver or experienced home health nurse can help.