Dementia is a term used to describe a group of symptoms influencing memory, thinking and social ability seriously enough to interfere with your daily routine. It’s anything but a particular disease, however, a few diseases can cause dementia.

However it normally includes memory loss, memory loss has various causes. Having memory loss alone doesn’t mean you have dementia, even though it’s one of the early indications of the condition.

Alzheimer’s infection is the most well-known reason for progressive dementia in older adults, however, there are various reasons for dementia. Depending upon the reason, some dementia symptoms may be reversible.

Symptoms

Dementia symptoms vary depending on the cause, but common signs and symptoms include:

Cognitive changes

• Memory loss, which is usually noticed by someone else
• Difficulty communicating or finding words
• Difficulty with visual and spatial abilities, such as getting lost while driving
• Difficulty reasoning or problem-solving
• Difficulty handling complex tasks
• Difficulty with planning and organizing
• Difficulty with coordination and motor functions
• Confusion and disorientation

Psychological changes

• Personality changes
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Inappropriate behaviour
• Paranoia
• Agitation
• Hallucinations

Causes

Dementia is brought about by harm to or loss of nerve cells and their connections in the mind. Depending upon the area of the mind that is harmed, it can influence individuals distinctively and cause various symptoms

This disease is regularly grouped by what they share practically speaking, for example, the protein or proteins stored in the mind or the part of the brain that is affected. A few sicknesses look like dementia, for example, those made by response meds or nutrient lacks, and they may improve with therapy.

Progressive dementias

Types of dementias that advancement and aren’t reversible include:

• Alzheimer’s disease This is the most well-known reason for dementia. Although not all reasons for Alzheimer’s disease are known, specialists do realise that a little rate is identified with mutations of three genes, which can be passed down from parent to kid. While a few genes are likely involved with Alzheimer’s disease, one significant quality that increases risk is apolipoprotein E4 (APOE). Alzheimer’s diseases patients have plaques and tangles in their minds. Plaques are clusters of a protein called beta-amyloid, and tangles are stringy knots comprised of tau protein. It clumps that these clusters harm sound neurons and the fibres connecting them.
• Vascular dementia. This kind of disease is brought about by harm to the vessels that supply blood to your brain. Vein issues can cause strokes or influence the mind in alternate ways, for example, by harming the fibres in the white matter of the brain. The most well-known symptoms of vascular dementia include hardships with critical thinking, eased back reasoning, and loss of concentration and association. These will generally be more noticeable than memory loss.

• Lewy body dementia. Lewy bodies are abnormal balloons like clumps of protein that have been found in the brains of people with Lewy body dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. This is one of the more common types of progressive dementia. Common signs and symptoms include acting out one’s dreams in sleep, seeing things that aren’t there (visual hallucinations), and problems with focus and attention. Other signs include uncoordinated or slow movement, tremors, and rigidity (parkinsonism).
• Frontotemporal dementia. This is a group of diseases characterized by the breakdown of nerve cells and their connections in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. These are the areas generally associated with personality, be behaviour and language. Common symptoms affect behaviour personality, thinking, judgment, and language and movement.
• Mixed dementia. Autopsy studies of the brains of people 80 and older who had dementia indicate that many had a combination of several causes, such as Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia. Studies are ongoing to determine how having mixed dementia affects symptoms and treatments.

Complications

It can affect many body systems and, therefore, the ability to function. It can lead to:

• Poor nutrition. Many people with this disease eventually reduce or stop eating, affecting their nutrient intake. Ultimately, they may be unable to chew and swallow.
• Pneumonia. Difficulty swallowing increases the risk of choking or aspirating food into the lungs, which can block breathing and cause pneumonia.
• Inability to perform self-care tasks. As this disease progresses, it can interfere with bathing, dressing, brushing hair or teeth, using the toilet independently, and taking medications as directed.
• Personal safety challenges. Some day-to-day situations can present safety issues for people with dementia, including driving, cooking, and walking and living alone.
• Death. Late-stage this disease results in coma and death, often from infection.

Prevention

There’s no sure way to prevent dementia, but there are steps you can take that might help. More research is needed, but it might be beneficial to do the following:

• Keep your mind active. Mentally stimulating activities, such as reading, solving puzzles and playing word games, and memory training might delay the onset of dementia and decrease its effects.
• Be physically and socially active. Physical activity and social interaction might delay the onset of dementia and reduce its symptoms. Aim for 150 minutes of exercise a week.
• Quit smoking. Some studies have shown that smoking in middle age and beyond might increase your risk of dementia and blood vessel conditions. Quitting smoking might reduce your risk and will improve your health.
• Get enough vitamins. Some research suggests that people with low levels of vitamin D in their blood are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of this disease. You can get vitamin D through certain foods, supplements and sun exposure. More study is needed before an increase in vitamin D intake is recommended for preventing it, but it’s a good idea to make sure you get adequate vitamin D. Taking a daily B-complex vitamin and vitamin C also might help.
• Manage cardiovascular risk factors. Treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Lose weight if you’re overweight. High blood pressure might lead to a higher risk of some types of this disease. More research is needed to determine whether treating high blood pressure may reduce the risk of it.
• Treat health conditions. See your doctor for treatment for depression or anxiety.
• Maintain a healthy diet. A diet such as the Mediterranean diet — rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and omega-3 fatty acids, which are commonly found in certain fish and nuts — might promote health and lower your risk of developing dementia. This type of diet also improves cardiovascular health, which may help lower dementia risk.
• Get good-quality sleep. Practice good sleep hygiene, and talk to your doctor if you snore loudly or have periods where you stop breathing or gasp during sleep.
• Treat hearing problems. People with hearing loss have a greater chance of developing cognitive decline. Early treatment of hearing loss, such as the use of hearing aids, might help decrease the risk.