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What is dementia? |
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DISC Tel: 0845
120 4048 email: info@disc.org.uk
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This
fact sheet offers information
for carers about dementia. It covers
who is most likely to have dementia, the causes of dementia and the different
types of dementia that exist. You may also find the
following fact sheets helpful: ·
Assessment and diagnosis ·
Treatment and therapy for people with dementia ·
Making your home dementia friendly What is dementia?
Dementia is an illness and is different from normal ageing, although
some of the features or symptoms of dementia are similar to the changes that
happen as people age. Dementia is caused by physical damage to the brain. It is a
progressive illness which is a term used by doctors to mean that the illness
advances and gets worse. Dementia
affects a person’s ability to think rationally and remember. These abilities usually enable us to carry
out a vast range of different activities, such as writing a shopping list,
dressing, going to the toilet, driving and having
conversations. When these abilities are affected, the range of activities
that a person can perform safely becomes quite limited. Symptoms such as forgetfulness usually develop slowly, although on
occasions, a person may suddenly deteriorate after a physical illness or
trauma, such as the loss of a partner.
The speed of decline depends on the type of dementia it is, the age at
which the person begins to be affected and individual characteristics such as
personality, background and the kind of support and care available. Over time, as more damage occurs in the brain, both physical health
and mental health decline. Doctors and other professionals sometimes refer to
this decline in mental health as affecting ‘cognitive (thinking) abilities’,
or ‘deterioration in cognitive ability’. People often talk about dementia as though there is only one illness
or disease. It is in fact an umbrella
term for over 70 different diseases or conditions. |
The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease and this and
other forms of dementia are described later in this fact sheet.
Who gets
dementia?
Almost a million people in the
Both men and women are affected but because more women survive beyond 75 years and over, dementia affects more women then men.
Some people may be more susceptible to the development of dementia because they have, or have had:
· Previous head injuries
· Clinical depression
· Untreated high blood pressure
· A family history of diseases, which are linked to the development of dementia
·
What sorts
of changes take place in dementia?
Each person is different and they will experience dementia in their own
individual way. Some symptoms or
features are very common, but others, such as causing physical harm to others
or constantly shouting out, are not.
It assists everyone concerned with support and care for the person with
dementia, to see dementia as a disability.
This helps us to understand that the feelings and behaviours that a
person with dementia expresses are almost certainly a response to the stress,
frustration and sadness that they are experiencing. Most importantly carers should always
remember that the person with dementia still has their ability to feel. The illness has not taken away the ability to
feel emotions and the way they are cared for, addressed or spoken to will
undoubtedly affect them.
Early in the illness (sometimes called mild dementia) a person with
dementia may experience:
·
A decline in recent memory such as
forgetting the way home from the shops, being unable to name objects or
remember names and places and repeating themselves.
·
A loss in the ability to take the initiative or plan anything. This
erodes their independence. They may seem
apathetic and show less interest in hobbies or activities.
·
Mood swings and personality changes blaming others
for ‘stealing’ mislaid items, becoming self centred and less concerned about
the feeling of others, feeling sad, afraid or more
angry. These are common reactions
to anxiety and stress related to memory loss and these may well be out of
character.
·
Difficulties in making themselves understood and a decline in
the ability to talk,
read
and write.
·
A decline in social skills and withdrawal
from contact with other people and the outside environment which may be too
much to cope with.
Later on in the illness (sometimes
referred to as moderate dementia) many of the difficulties are more marked and
people with dementia often experience:
·
Reduction in ability to carry out tasks associated
with daily living such as putting on clothes in the correct order,
forgetting the pans on the stove, and to light a gas ring or gas fire, not
remembering to wash or bathe and possibly hiding soiled clothes if they have
had ‘an accident’.
·
Sleep problems as anxiety increases and
people find it hard to respond to ‘feeling tired’ and ‘going to bed’ at night
time. They may ‘wander’ at night or try
to go to the post office or shops in the early hours of the morning.
·
Losses of appetite as
psychological triggers for eating are affected by brain damage. The person could be losing weight but saying
they are eating.
As the illness progresses
and a person has ‘severe dementia’, they may exhibit:
·
Behaviour that
offends or is hurtful including verbal and physical aggression or
behaviour, which goes beyond the bounds of acceptable social behaviour and
sometimes sexual decency including removal of clothes or inappropriate physical
contact.
·
Incontinence of urine and sometimes of
faeces.
·
Constant repetition
of
words and phrases.
·
Inability to
recognise family and friends and thinking that their child is their spouse.
·
Behaviour such as
hallucinations.
·
Total inability to wash, dress,
eat and drink without assistance.
Towards
the end of the illness, people with dementia are likely to be:
·
Physically frail and weak as their mental
health is deteriorating and their body systems gradually shut down.
·
Prone to breathing difficulties because of respiratory infections and other health problems, such as pneumonia,
as they will have reduced immunity to illness.
This fact sheet can be made
available in large print.
We are constantly looking to
improve our information. It helps if you
let us know whether the information in this fact sheet was/was not useful and
if there are other fact sheets that you would have found helpful that we have
not yet provided.
While the information contained in this fact
sheet is believed to be correct, DISC does not accept liability for any error/s
it may contain.