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
Alzheimer's disease may protect against cancer and vice versa
Dec 23, 2009 |
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People who have Alzheimer's disease may be less likely to develop cancer, and people who have cancer may be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study published in the December 23, 2009, online issue ...
Diet high in methionine could increase risk of Alzheimers
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Temple study suggests that an amino acid found in red meats, fish, beans and other foods may increase possibility of dementia.
Higher levels of protein hormone associated with lower risk of dementia, Alzheimer's disease
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Persons with higher levels of leptin, a protein hormone produced by fat cells and involved in the regulation of appetite, may have an associated reduced incidence of Alzheimer disease and dementia, according to a study in ...
Time for a new view of late-life dementia
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Two new studies published in the December 16, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association point to the need for a broader scientific perspective on late-life dementia, according to an editorial in the sa ...
Fat around the middle increases the risk of dementia
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Women who store fat on their waist in middle age are more than twice as likely to develop dementia when they get older, reveals a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy.
Critical communication for caregivers
Dec 16, 2009 |
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Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia represent an exponentially growing social and health care challenge for American families - not only family members who face the progressive brain disease, but also those who ...
Imaging test detects Alzheimer's disease that is likely to progress
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Early Alzheimer's disease detected by a compound that binds to brain plaques appears likely to progress into symptomatic Alzheimer's disease with dementia, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Neurology, one of ...
Study finds significantly worse outcomes in cancer patients with cognitive impairment
Dec 14, 2009 |
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A new study published by researchers from the University of Georgia and the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., has found that cancer patients with dementia have a dramatically lower survival rate than patients with cancer ...
Some blood pressure drugs may help protect against dementia, study shows
Medicine & Health / Medications
Jul 23, 2009 |
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A particular class of medication used to treat high blood pressure could protect older adults against memory decline and other impairments in cognitive function, according to a newly published study from Wake Forest University ...
Apathy common in dementia patients with brain changes
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 02, 2009 |
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Dementia patients with a certain type of changes in their brain's white matter are more likely to be apathetic than those who do not have these changes, reveals a patient study carried out by the Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska ...
Study highlights lack of patient knowledge regarding hospital medications
Medicine & Health / Medications
Dec 10, 2009 |
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In a new study to asses patient awareness of medications prescribed during a hospital visit, 44% of patients believed they were receiving a medication they were not, and 96% were unable to recall the name of at least one ...
Midlife coffee and tea drinking and the risk of late-life dementia
Jan 15, 2009 |
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Midlife coffee drinking can decrease the risk of dementia/Alzheimer's disease (AD) later in life. This conclusion is made in a Finnish Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) Study published ...
Regular moderate alcohol intake has cognitive benefits in older adults
Jul 13, 2009 |
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A glass of wine here, a nightcap there - new research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests that moderate alcohol intake offers long-term cognitive protection and reduces the risk of dementia ...
Scientists discover new Alzheimer's gene
Aug 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A UC Irvine study has found that a gene called TOMM40 appears twice as often in people with Alzheimer's disease than in those without it. Alzheimer's, for which there is no cure, is the leading ...
Key Brain Receptors Linked To Learning and Memory Decrease with Age
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying cognitive decline that accompanies aging have been interested in nicotinic receptors, part of a key neural pathway that not only enhances learning and memory skills but ...
