Dementia

"When dementia-like sickness prevented me from writing books, I started writing short quotes in an attempt to delay the onset of serious mental illness."― Steven Magee
Do you think mental health is not as important as physical health? Think again! Mental health abnormalities are real and they can screw you up much more than the physical ones can. It is mostly because like physical problems we do not take them seriously until or unless they take up a very serious form.
What is Dementia?
It is a disease in which declines in memory, problem-solving, and other thinking skills. All these skills are the ones that help you to perform your everyday life tasks effectively and efficiently. It also causes memory loss and makes you unable to remember details about events occurring in your life.
What are the Symptoms of Dementia?
Dementia is easy to recognize if you know about what are the potential sufferings you are likely to go through in case you have developed this mental health disorder. Dementia has many symptoms from the most common symptoms are:
- Problem with short term memory
- The problem in communicating with someone and finding words
- Difficulty with visual and spatial abilities
- Difficulty to deal with complex tasks
- Problem in organizing
- Difficulty in coordination and motor skills
- Confusion
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Personality changes
- Agitation
- Hallucination
- Inappropriate behavior
- Paranoia
All these symptoms can make you understand how important it is to take care of your mental health along with your physical health.
Causes of Dementia
Dementia is caused by brain and nerve damage and the symptoms are according to the area which is damaged. It causes a problem in making decisions and loss of memory when it causes damage to the hippocampus.
Types of dementia
There are many types of dementia which are named below:
- Alzheimer disease
- Vascular dementia
- Lewy body dementia
- Frontotemporal dementia
- Mixed dementia
These types are classified according to the brain area that is damaged.
Diseases due to Dementia
Diseases which are connected and interlinked with dementia are the following given here:
- Huntington’s disease
- Traumatic brain injury
- Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease
- Parkinson’s disease
If you have dementia you are more prone to develop the above-mentioned diseases.
Conditions which Revert due to Dementia
Do you know what is worse than having a disease for the first time? It is the relapsing of all the previous ones that you ever had. Many conditions are likely to be reverted due to dementia. These conditions include:
- Immune disorders
- Metabolic problems
- Endocrine diseases
- Nutritional deficiency
- Medication side effects
- Poisoning
- Brain tumors
- Subdural hematomas
- Normal-pressure hydrocephalus
Risk Factors Due to Dementia
Some people are more prone to the development of Dementia in their life as compared to others. Some of the factors that make your chances of developing Dementia higher are:
- Age factor
- Due to family history
- Down syndrome
- Heaving consumption of alcohol
- Depression
- Heart diseases
- Smoking
- Vitamin deficiency
- Nutritional deficiency
- Sleep apnea
Complications due to dementia
There are some serious complications that you are likely to face due to dementia and they are:
- Nutritional deficiency
- Pneumonia
- Inability to perform self-care tasks
- Leads to death
- Safety issues
Preventive measures
It is important to take preventive measures to avoid getting Dementia if you are a person with more than two risk factors. Here we are discussing some preventive measures:
- You have to keep yourself active
- You have to be socially active
- Don’t smoke
- Take vitamins in your diet
- Manage yourself to lessen the risk of cardiovascular diseases
- Take proper treatment and medications as soon as you suspect having any similar problems.
- Take a healthy diet
- Take proper sleep
Treatment
Dementia is a problematic mental health condition. There are many treatment options available and they work better and faster if you consult a mental health practitioner in the early onset on the disorder. Some of the effective treatment options are mentioned below:
- Cholinesterase inhibitors
- Memantine
- Other medications
- Occupational therapy
- Modifications in the environment
- Simplifying tasks
Any treatment or therapy requires a skilled and qualified mental health practitioner. Waiting longer to seek professional health or doing self-medication can ruin your life.