Most Common Causes Of Dementia example essay topic

I. Introduction II. Dementia Senility is a misused term for the loss of ability to think, reason, and remember in older persons. Senility is not a medical condition; it is not normal, natural, or inevitable with aging; it is not limited to older people either. The term senility is replaced in most of my pertinent research by the medical term dementia, which seems to describe a group of symptoms that represent a change or deterioration from an individual's previous level of functioning (Tueth, 1995). Dementia has specific causes, which impair long-term memory and quite relevantly; : language, judgment, spatial perception, behavior, and often personality, interfering with normal social and occupational functioning.

Most dementia's are evidently both progressive and irreversible. According to Cummings (1995) after the age of 60, the frequency of dementia in the population statistically doubles every 5 years: that is to say it affects only 1% of 60-64-year-olds but 30-40% of those over age 85 (Cummings, 1995). The most common causes of dementia are Alzheimer's Disease (Tueth, 1995), and vascular problems or problems related to a stroke (Yoshi take et al., 1995). Depression, believed to cause some symptoms of dementia, may be as common in early dementia as it is by itself and may improve with prompt treatment even in people with dementia. The risk of dementia increases with age. Although statistics concerning those who have dementia's worldwide are not known, it is known that most dementia's are not reversible but that people with dementia can function better with treatment of other medical or sensory problems, and optimal social and environmental support.

From what I have learned, stimulation and activity can also help people with dementia. It is very important to note that minor memory problems in older people previously attributed to senility may have other causes, such as distraction, fatigue, grief, stress, alcohol, sensory loss, difficulty with concentration or inability to remember many details at once, illness, or medications (Cummings, 1995). Confusion and disorientation caused by these problems may apparently be reversible though.. Examining Alzheimer's Disease By definition, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable degenerative disease of the brain. AD is a progressive dement ing illness in which the core symptom is long-term memory loss (Tueth, 1995).

Other associated symptoms include impairments in language, abstract reasoning, and visual spatial abilities as previously described in dementia. Personality changes are common and range from apathy to restless agitation. These are said to be directly related to memory difficulties (inferred from Elias, 1992). Psychiatric symptoms, including depression, delusions, and hallucinations, may also occur during the course of AD resulting somewhat from the severe loss of memory.

AD is the most common cause of dementia in adults, and is estimated to affect more than 2 million men and women over the age of 65 in the United States. Symptoms worsen every year, and death usually occurs within 10 years of initial onset (Cummings, 1995). The clinical manifestations of AD stem from dysfunction and death of neurons in the brain. The trademarks of AD are fibrous structures, tangles, found in dying neurons, and senile plaques composed of degenerating nerve-cell elements surrounding a core of amyloid protein. The parts of the brain that direct cognition are especially affected, whereas regions that primarily detect sensations and control muscular movement are generally spared. Biochemical abnormalities associated with neuron failure include accumulation of aluminum in senile plaques and tangled neurons; deposition of amyloid protein in cerebral blood vessels and senile plaques; disrupted nerve-cell-membrane phospholipid metabolism; and decreases in neurotransmitter substances such as acetylcholine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and (Whitaker, 1993).

Definitive diagnosis of AD is only possible through autopsy, although positron emission tomography has proven helpful as a diagnostic tool. Although the cause of AD is not known, two risk factors have been consistently identified: advanced age and genetic predisposition. The risk of developing AD is less than one percent before the age of 50 years old, but increases steeply in each successive decade of life to reach 30 percent by the age of 90. In patients with familial AD, immediate-family relatives have a 50 percent chance of developing AD because the tendency is transmitted as an dominant trait (Cummings, 1995). Until the cause of AD is determined, a cure will probably remain un found. There are no treatments that reverse the primary cognitive impairments i nAD, or that retard the course of illness.

Most current experimental drug trials have sought to correct the defect in acetylcholine neuro transmission. To date, such medicines have proven ineffective, but developing drugs to correct other biochemical abnormalities detected in brains of patients with AD may yet lead to useful treatments. From what I learned elsewhere, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a drug called ta crine in September 1993, which reportedly does relieve some AD symptoms in certain patients. IV. Conclusion: A Comparison Between Alzheimer's And Vascular Dementia In Alzheimer's disease: an underlying vascular disorder is not necessarily present there is a more subtle onset and gradual but relentless progression deterioration in a broad range of intellectual abilities impaired motor skills are uncommon until late in disease brain scan is normal or shows general brain shrinkage death is often caused by infection In Vascular Dementia: an underlying vascular disorder, such as hypertension or heart disease, is almost always present abrupt onset; often progresses in 'steps'; decline may be slowed or stopped by controlling vascular disorder (s) some intellectual abilities are affected to a greater degree than others impairment in motor skills is a common early symptom brain scan shows evidence of strokes or stroke-related changes death is often caused by heart attack, stroke, or other underlying.

Bibliography

Cummings, Jeffrey. (1995, June 10).
Dementia: The failing brain., Vol. 345, Lancet, pp. 1481-1497. Elias, Marilyn. (1992, July).
When to worry about forgetting., Vol. 17, Harvard Health Letter, pp. 1-4. Grossman, Murray-Mickanin, Jenifer-al, et. (1995, January) vascular disorder (s).