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Dementia By: Vicky Zakrzewski

M/F 9:25Human Exceptionalities

Statistics

In 2008, there are currently 29.8 million people with dementia, with the number expected to be 81.1 million by 2050.

It is estimated there will be 4.6 million new cases of dementia every year (one new case every 7 seconds). The number of people affected will double every 20 years to 81.1 million by 2040.

What is Dementia

Loss of mental skills that effect your daily life

Causes problems with your memory and how well you think and plan

Most common forms are Alzheimer’s disease and multi-infarct dementia

Coined from the Latin words de – meaning apart or away and mens meaning mind

Causes

Strokes, tumors, head injuries

Diseases such as Parkinson’s

Underactive thyroid gland

Not enough B12

Fluid buildup in the brain

Symptoms

Memory loss is the biggest factor and warning sign

Getting lost in places you are familiar with

For get people they know and their names

Can’t control their moods often are depressed

Trouble balancing a check book or calculating things

Trouble bathing and grooming themselves

Repeating the same question over again

Loss of coordination and basic motor function

Diagnosed

Doctor gives you a physical exam

Mini mental state examination (MMSE)

Abbreviated mental test score (AMTS)

Series of blood tests

MRI and CT scans

Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination to distinguish it from Alzheimer's disease

Types

Most Common: Alzheimer’s disease, Binswanger’s disease, Pick’s disease

Less Common: Creutzfelt-Jakob disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease

Effected Brain

Treatment

Less than 10% of dementia cases are reversible

Take vitamins such as B12

Take medicine to treat depression

When it can not be reversed the doctor will prescribe these medications to make it easier for the patient: Aricept® (donepezil Cognex® (tacrine)

Challenges Caregivers Face

If the loved one is able to continue driving

Financial and Legal planning such as what they wish to do with their medical plan, and will

Whether it’s time their loved one should be placed in a nursing home

Care Givers Need Breaks

Local Resources

Respite Care-Publicly or Privately paid temporary care (relieves primary care giver to do errands or just "get away for a while").-Friends and relatives often provide this even when they are unable or unwilling to share primary care responsibilities

.Adult Day Care-Private programs that provide a safe, structured setting that helps maintain functioning in the affected relative (also respite for the care giver)

Adult Foster Care-Private individuals or non-profit organizations maintain houses and provide care for one or more impaired persons (person must generally be able to perform most self-care functions).

Meals on WheelsCase Manager and Service Coordinator-In recent years a number of people, often social workers, assist the families of cognitively and/or physically impaired persons with identifying and coordinating needed services

Video

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=dementia&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-701&tnr=21&vid=0001806360170

Work Cited

http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/what-is-dementia/

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/seniors/mental-health/662.html

http://www.pharmacy-and-drugs.com/Neurological_disorder/Dementia.html

http://www.ncpamd.com/dementia.htm