Dementia

Dementia is a permanent decline in cognitive function and memory from a previous level of function. Dementia is a brain disorder with permanent loss of memory or other higher cognitive function.. Dementia can either be progressive, such as in Alzheimer's disease, or may remain stable, as can be seen after a stroke or head injury.

symptoms of dementia

• Memory loss
• The patient may become more and more moody
• The affected person finds it harder to talk read and/or write.

Diseases that cause dementia
Alzheimer's disease, Stroke (Vascular problems), Dementia with Lewy bodies, Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, Korsakoff's syndrome, Binswanger's disease, HIV and AIDS , and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Motor Neurone disease and Multiple Sclerosis.

According to most experts, there are two main categories of dementia:

• Cortical Dementia - the cerebral cortex is affected. Characteristic problems with memory, the inability to recall words and as the disease progresses to understand what others are saying (aphasia).
• Subcortical Dementia - dementias believed to result in structures below the cortex. Language and memory functions appear largely unaffected. A patient with subcortical dementia will usually experience personality change , slow paced thinking or thought processing, and shortened attention.

In some cases, dementia can be reversed with proper medical treatment. In others, it is permanent and usually gets worse over time.

 Medications

Cholinestaerase inhibitors are frequently administered during the early stages. US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any drug specifically for dementia. The drugs listed here are some of the most frequently prescribed from each class.

• Cholinesterase inhibitors 
• Antidepressants/anxiolytics 
• Antipsychotics 
• Anticonvulsants

doctors weigh whether the benefits of the drug outweigh the side effects. Elderly most likely to experience drug side effects. People with dementia who are taking any of these drugs must be checked often to make sure that the side effects are tolerable and controlled.

Other Therapy

• Occupational therapy may help persons with dementia with activities of daily living (bathing or feeding oneself)
• Physical therapy may improve mobility (teaching patients  how to get in and out of chairs or beds)
• Diversional therapy (Music and art activities may be soothing and rewarding for some people with dementia.)