Dementia is
a progressive loss of cognitive functions. It is often accompanied by
disturbances of mood, behavior and personality and leads to significant
impairment in the ability to perform normal activities of daily living.
Dementia is not a specific disease but is a term for a group of symptoms caused
by numerous different disorders that affect the brain.
Dementias
are becoming more common and are currently found in 14% of Americans age 71 and
older which means that age is the biggest risk factor. In fact, the risk
doubles every five years after age 65. Lifestyle factors and genetics also affect the
risk of developing dementia.
Symptoms of
dementia are severe, numerous and very among individuals. Symptoms include the
following: 1.Being dependent on others for daily living 2. Complaints of memory
loss .Unable to give details 3. Family member concern about memory. With Covid
-19, reduced family awareness 4. Recent memory for events, conversations
noticeably impaired 5. Difficulty in conversations in finding words 6. Pauses in
speech and word substitutions 7. Being lost walking or driving; may take hours
to get home 8. Cannot operate appliances; and new learning impaired 9. Loss of
interest in social activities and socially inappropriate 10. Mental status impaired
for age, education and culture. 11. Impulsive purchases, running up debt, bill
payment irregularities, lower credit ratings, more errors at work and other
financial mistakes.
The
following are” Good News “and are called Secondary Reversible Dementias because
the cause can be treated and the dementia reversed. They are as follows: 1. Excessive
alcohol use and tobacco smoking 2. Brain inflammation and periodontal disease
3. Anxiety and depression. Yes, psychotherapy and regular exercise has been
shown to reverse the damage 4. Drug effects and interactions that include
antidepressants, sleeping pills, anxiety medications, painkillers,
anticholinergic medications and antihistamines 5. Respiratory problems 6.
Metabolic diseases 7. Normal pressure with Hydrocephalus 8. Sleep problems and
disorders 9. Chronic stress 10. Dietary deficiencies-with aging. The rate of
nutrient absorption slows and makes it difficult to get adequate levels of
vitamins and other nutrients 11. Hospitalizations -individuals that had prior
hospitalizations for acute-care critical illness were more likely to have
developed dementia in the preceding six years in one study 12. Delirium 13.
Other reversible dementias can be caused by chronic illicit drug use-operable
brain tumors, subdural and epidural hematomas, hypothyroidism and hypoglycemia.
Now for the
bad news. The following are primary neurodegenerative irreversible dementias:
1. Alzheimer’s disease affects 6 million Americans; is the seventh leading
cause of death; and killed more than 33,000 last year 2. Parkinson’s 3. Lewy
Body 4. Vascular and stroke 5. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy 6. Frontotemporal
(Picks disease) 7. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy 8. Huntington’s disease 9.
Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease.
There are
many character lifestyle ways to damage ones precious brain irrespective of age.
Examples include : Drinking while driving; not wearing a seatbelt; motorcycle ;
equestrian; joining the military-high prevalence of explosive device brain
injury; and playing sports.1.6 to 3.8 million sports related brain injuries
occur in the US every year. One out of 10 of these require hospitalization.
Children under 15 have twice as many Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from sports
than from auto accidents.
Dementia is
also caused by TBI. If severe enough, a blunt force trauma to the head can
speed up the process. Statistically, this is a major public health problem for
young Americans. It is a major cause of death and disability in persons under
25 years of age and those 15 to 24 are at the highest risk.
Football
players are at high risk for TB I. 20% of high school football players and 40%
of college football players are examples. Current football helmets do not
prevent concussions from the kind of violent collisions seen in football.
Symptoms of
TBI are acute and vary from person to person. Typically there are major problems
in attention, concentration, memory, problem-solving, judgment, lack of
empathy, impulse control, emotional control, social interactions and
psychiatric conditions of depression and anxiety.
All in all,
it should be clear by now, with this brief bit of information, that brain
health is precious. Death, aging and
illness are givens. It’s a matter of fact that an individual’s character and
lifestyle choices have a negative effect on aging and brain health. Too many
members in our country are affected by memory deficits, other cognitive
components with obviously asocial and negative financial interactions. “By
their fruits shall ye know them?” Lifestyle of one’s character can be
associated with a faulty orientation and devotion to self-defeating, harmful, masochistic
and destructive behaviors. We all have our devotions. As a consequence, we have
an obvious dumbing down in our country that’s exhibited by memory loss. Memory
is who we are. World and American history are not abstruse as people
continually repeat stupid and cruelty over and over again.
References
New York
Times, “Financial Mistakes May Indicate Dementia”, May 2, 2021.
Understanding
Dementia .INR.
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