What is Dementia?

Dementia is an umbrella term that is taken from the Latin word demens , the best definition to consider is the one provided by the World Health Organization who tell us that dementia is:

A syndrome due to disease of the brain, usually of a chronic or progressive nature, in which there is disturbance of:

In dementia, consciousness is not clouded though many people living with dementia report that sometimes it is as though the brain becomes foggy.

Impairments of COGNITIVE FUNCTION are commonly accompanied, and occasionally preceded by, deterioration in emotional control, social behaviours and motivation

Though there are more than 100 types of dementia, Probable Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia, Dementia of the Lewy Body Type and Pick’s Disease are regarded by many of those in the field as being the most prevalent in Western society.

There are approximately three-quarters of a million people in the UK living with the experiences of one of the dementias.

Less than 1:1000 under the age of 65 has dementia. However, in those aged 65 – 70 this increases to 1:20. This rises as age increases to 75 and over to 1:5

In approximately 10% of people living with dementia up to the age of 65, the underlying cause will be remediable.

TELL ME ABOUT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Alois Alzheimer was a German pathologist with an interest in the changes caused by diseases of the nervous system. He first reported the disease that now bears his name in 1907 following his treatment over a number of years of Auguste D.

What are the symptoms?

The earliest symptom is usually memory loss and it is the temporal lobe that is associated with memory. Long-term memory remains good, whilst short-term memory, or working memory, is affected. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that controls certain aspects of our personality. Once affected, the person can become irritable, or appear to lack concern about matters that would formerly have been important to them. Sometimes, mood is unstable, with anger or inexplicable weeping. As the disease progresses, restless walking may occur and later becomes particularly evident at night.

During these very challenging and anxious times, a psychosocial approach, making use of relaxation strategies, cognitive behaviour therapy, psychotherapy and/or hypno-psychotherapy can prove beneficial for many people, including relatives and carers.

An individual’s speech will be affected and he/she may experience hallucinations and paranoia.

Alzheimer’s disease will affect every individual in different ways. However, the manner in which symptoms occur in many people is complicated by the coexistence of depression – some of the biochemical changes in the brain that are found in this form of dementia are similar to those that are found in the brain of people with depression. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy can have very positive outcomes as a positive intervention for people with depression.

Anxiety is one of the most common behavioural symptoms found in dementia. When one considers the complexities of this disease, and the many challenges it brings, this is no surprise. Research into the use and practice of hypno-psychotherapy has demonstrated that this approach can be of great benefit in assisting people to reduce their anxiety states, thus leading to a much-improved quality of life.

Challenges around memory loss, disorientation, judgement, personality, speech, dressing and feeding, sleep, sexual behaviour, risk taking, incontinence and behavioural changes are some of the challenges faced by the person living with dementia and his or her relatives and carers.