Related topics: brain , disease , alzheimer s 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.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with dementia
Midlife coffee and tea drinking and the risk of late-life dementia
Jan 15, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (21) |
1
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 ...
Angiotensin receptor blockers are lower incidence, progression of Alzheimer's disease
Jul 28, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (18) |
1
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have, for the first time, found that angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)—a particular class of anti-hypertensive medicines—are associated with a striking decrease ...
Statins may protect against memory loss
Jul 28, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (11) |
0
People at high risk for dementia who took cholesterol-lowering statins are half as likely to develop dementia as those who do not take statins, a new study shows.
Second-hand smoke linked to cognitive impairment
Feb 13, 2009 |
4 / 5 (9) |
4
The research, published today in the British Medical Journal, highlighted a 44% increase in risk of cognitive impairment when exposed to high levels of second-hand smoke.
Maybe you don't have Alzheimer's after all
Jul 17, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (7) |
1
She was 65 years old. "And I was a young 65, believe it or not," says Jeanne Folmer. "Oh, I did everything. I just did everything." Retired from real estate and sales, she kept busy playing golf with her sister, antiquing ...
Antipsychotic drugs double risk of death among Alzheimer's patients
Medicine & Health / Medications
Jan 09, 2009 |
5 / 5 (6) |
6
New research into the effects of antipsychotic drugs commonly prescribed to Alzheimer's patients concludes that the medication nearly doubles risk of death over three years. The study, funded by the Alzheimer's Research Trust, ...
'Sunshine vitamin' link to cognitive problems in older people
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Jan 22, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (6) |
5
Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, have for the first time identified a relationship between Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin", and cognitive impairment ...
Moderate drinking can reduce risks of Alzheimer's dementia and cognitive decline
Dec 29, 2008 |
4.5 / 5 (6) |
6
Moderate drinkers often have lower risks of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive loss, according to researchers who reviewed 44 studies.
Living with a partner reduces risk of Alzheimer's
Jul 31, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
1
Living with a spouse or a partner decreases the risk of developing Alzheimer's and other dementia diseases. This according to a study by Krister Håkansson, researcher in psychology at Växjö University and Karolinska Institutet, ...
Key Brain Receptors Linked To Learning and Memory Decrease with Age
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 11, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
(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 ...
Chemicals found in fruit and veg offer dementia hope
Jul 10, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (5) |
5
A group of chemicals found in many fruits and vegetables, as well as tea, cocoa and red wine, could protect the brain from Alzheimer’s disease, a dementia expert will tell scientists at a conference today (Friday).
Regular moderate alcohol intake has cognitive benefits in older adults
Jul 13, 2009 |
3.1 / 5 (7) |
1
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 ...
A protein that protects against Alzheimer's?
Jan 06, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (5) |
0
Research on the mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, stroke, dementia, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis, to name a few, has taken a step forward thanks to the work of biological sciences ...
Fatty acids clue for Alzheimer's
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 13, 2009 |
2.6 / 5 (8) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- The amount of fatty acids in the brain varies between healthy people and those with Alzheimer's according to new research from the University of Bristol, UK, supported by the Alzheimer's Research ...
A drug could improve the memory of those with Alzheimer's disease
Medicine & Health / Medications
Feb 18, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
A drug used in a type of hereditary metabolic disorder improved the memory of laboratory animals with Alzheimer's disease. The results of the project, developed by researchers of the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) ...
