Related topics: alzheimer s disease , brain , cognitive impairment , memory , disease
Dementia
hideDementia (meaning "deprived of mind") is a cognitive impairment. It may be static, the result of a unique global brain injury or progressive, resulting in long-term decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the body beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, it may occur in any stage of adulthood. This age cutoff is defining, as similar sets of symptoms due to organic brain syndrome or dysfunction, are given different names in populations younger than adult. Up to the end of the nineteenth century, dementia was a much broader clinical concept.
Dementia is a non-specific illness syndrome (set of signs and symptoms) in which affected areas of cognition may be memory, attention, language, and problem solving. It is normally required to be present for at least 6 months to be diagnosed; cognitive dysfunction which has been seen only over shorter times, particularly less than weeks, must be termed delirium. In all types of general cognitive dysfunction, higher mental functions are affected first in the process. Especially in the later stages of the condition, affected persons may be disoriented in time (not knowing what day of the week, day of the month, or even what year it is), in place (not knowing where they are), and in person (not knowing who they are or others around them). Dementia, though often treatable to some degree, is usually due to causes which are progressive and incurable.
Symptoms of dementia can be classified as either reversible or irreversible, depending upon the etiology of the disease. Less than 10 percent of cases of dementia are due to causes which may presently be reversed with treatment. Causes include many different specific disease processes, in the same way that symptoms of organ dysfunction such as shortness of breath, jaundice, or pain are attributable to many etiologies. Without careful assessment of history, the short-term syndrome of delirium (often lasting days to weeks) can easily be confused with dementia, because they have all symptoms in common, save duration, and the fact that delirium is often associated with over-activity of the sympathetic nervous system. Some mental illnesses, including depression and psychosis, may also produce symptoms which must be differentiated from both delirium and dementia.
For more information about Dementia, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with dementia
Hypertension may predict dementia in older adults with certain cognitive deficits
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Feb 08, 2010 |
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High blood pressure appears to predict the progression to dementia in older adults with impaired executive functions (ability to organize thoughts and make decisions) but not in those with memory dysfunction, according to ...
Drug shows promise for Huntington's disease
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Feb 08, 2010 |
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An early stage clinical trial of the experimental drug dimebon (latrepirdine) in people with Huntington's disease appears to be safe and may improve cognition. That is the conclusion of a study published today in the Archives of ...
Dementia costs UK economy £23 billion a year
Feb 03, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The impact of dementia on society and the UK?s economy has been significantly underestimated, a University of Oxford report has found.
New method improves eating skills of dementia patients
Jan 28, 2010 |
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A pioneering international study involving academics from the University of Sheffield has shown for the first time that it is possible to improve the eating skills and nutritional status of older people with dementia.
Early menopause can result in earlier onset dementia
Jan 27, 2010 |
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Women experiencing an early onset of menopause could develop dementia at a younger age. Research by Tonnie Coppus of Erasmus MC has indicated this. She studied women with Down Syndrome, who are known to have an early onset ...
Why humans outlive apes
Jan 26, 2010 |
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The same evolutionary genetic advantages that have helped increase human lifespans also make us uniquely susceptible to diseases of aging such as cancer, heart disease and dementia, reveals a study to be published in a special ...
More blood pressure worry: It's linked to dementia
Jan 26, 2010 |
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(AP) -- If the cardiologist's warnings don't scare you, consider this: Controlling blood pressure just might be the best protection yet known against dementia.
Nationwide clinical trial of nutritional drink for Alzheimer's
Jan 25, 2010 |
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Rush University Medical Center is leading a nationwide clinical trial of a nutritional drink to determine whether it can improve cognitive performance in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's.
Study finds decrease in postoperative delirium in elderly patients
Jan 19, 2010 |
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A recent study, published in the January issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, demonstrates that in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture repair under spinal anesthesia with propofol sedation, the prevalence of delirium can be ...
Staring, sleepiness, other mental lapses more likely in patients with Alzheimer's
Jan 18, 2010 |
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Cognitive fluctuations, or episodes when train of thought temporarily is lost, are more likely to occur in older persons who are developing Alzheimer's disease than in their healthy peers, according to scientists ...
Cognitively impaired elderly women get unneeded screening mammography, study finds
Jan 14, 2010 |
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A significant percentage of U.S. women 70 years or older who were severely cognitively impaired received screening mammography that was unlikely to benefit them, according to a study of 2,131 elderly women conducted by researchers ...
Angiotensin receptor blockers associated with lower risk of Alzheimer's disease
Jan 13, 2010 |
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Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) -- a particular class of anti-hypertensive medicines -- are associated with a striking decrease in the occurrence ...
Common blood-pressure drug also combats dementia
Jan 12, 2010 |
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A widely-prescribed drug to tackle high blood pressure and heart disease also appears to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, according to a large US study published on Wednesday.
Dementia linked to high blood pressure years earlier
Jan 12, 2010 |
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High blood pressure may put women at greater risk for dementia later in life by increasing white matter abnormalities in the brain, report researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in ...
Study examines prescribing of antipsychotic medications for nursing home residents
Medicine & Health / Medications
Jan 11, 2010 |
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Older adults newly admitted to nursing homes with high rates of antipsychotic prescribing in the previous year are more likely to receive antipsychotic agents, according to a report in the January 11 issue of Archives of ...
