Symptoms of dementia and form of the disease

When the first symptoms of dementia appear, it is perceived by relatives as a sentence. No one is insured against this disaster. The disease is also called "dementia", which sounds somehow ugly, and "marasmus", which is generally deadly. Symptoms of dementia are a problem in which you need to sound an alarm, because only in Russia the number of patients reaches almost 2 million, and several million more who care for them. Meanwhile, treatment started in a timely manner, allows for several years to postpone manifest manifestations of the disease.

Symptoms of Dementia

Dementia is a disease that is accompanied by severe disorders in the human intellect and its behavior leading to the loss of basic life skills. The disease usually develops in the elderly. This is about 5% of people over the age of 65. Patients lose the ability to acquire new skills and knowledge, while losing and previously learned. Experts share the severity of mild, moderate and severe dementia. Symptoms of mild dementia are manifested by degradation of the patient's professional skills, a decrease in his social activity, a weakening of interest in the world around him. At the same time, he completely retains the skills of self-service, normally navigates within his own apartment. Symptoms of moderate-degree dementia are more pronounced: loss of habits of using modern devices (telephone, TV, kitchen utensils). The patient needs help from relatives, but retains the skills of self-care and self-care. Severe dementia is called senile dementia, it is characterized by the dependence of a person on the help of loved ones, even in elementary actions (dressing, eating, hygiene). Senile dementia, the symptoms of which are described above, is an acquired disease, in contrast to dementia of the congenital, for example, oligophrenia. Senile dementia is a consequence of the organic decay of brain cells in old age.

Dementia of the Alzheimer's type: symptoms

Sufficient reasons for contacting a doctor:

• Memory. A person is less likely to remember information about what is happening at the moment.
• Orientation. A person begins to orient less in space and time.
• Thinking. There are difficulties in trying to solve simple problems in everyday practice, rapid mental fatigue.
• Communication. Independence is lost, and social functions are burdensome.
• Behavior. The interest to former hobbies is lost, the domestic difficulties are gradually manifested, which is expressed in negligence and untidiness. A person still cares for himself, but needs reminders and tips.

Causes of dementia:

• Diseases of the nervous system that cause the death of brain cells (Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer 's disease, Huntington's chorea).
• Diseases of cerebral vessels (heart attack, stroke, ischemia).
• Alcoholism, hypoxemia, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism and other metabolic disorders.
• Neuroinfections.
• Craniocerebral injury.
• Tumors.

Treatment of dementia

Despite the fact that there is an opinion that the treatment of this disease is useless, one should know that not every type of dementia is irreversible. Some symptoms of dementia recede, after the causes that caused them are eliminated. Modern medicine has a number of antidemia drugs that restrain the rate of development of severe consequences of this disease.