A diagnosis of dementia is like entering a foreign country. Maybe you’ve heard rumours about the sights or the people or even the food. But without some research, how do you know what’s true? When you are travelling, making mistakes sometimes leads to new adventures. Not so with a serious diagnosis.
Today, we’ll look at some common misconceptions, rumours and fears.
What is the difference between Alzheimer’s disease and dementia?
Simply put, Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia, but dementia isn’t necessarily Alzheimer’s.
Do you remember when you heard whispers about your grandmother going “senile”? That term isn’t used any more (or shouldn’t be). Instead we talk of people having dementia. Dementia is an umbrella term for a series of symptoms. The most prominent of these is memory loss, but there are many others, including the ability to reason and make decisions, language, and attention span. The main issue here is that it is severe enough to affect what is called the activities of daily living (ADLs). Everyone forgets things at times, or can’t find the right word, or is distracted. But when it becomes a pattern that affects my ability to do my job, care for my family (or myself), it needs to be assessed by a qualified physician.
Imagine you have a stomach ache. You don’t know where it came from, but you feel miserable. The stomach ache is a symptom. You need to know the cause before you can effectively treat it. Did you eat something that had gone bad? Did you eat too much? Is it an ulcer? Is it cancer? Until you know the cause, you have no idea how to treat it.
Dementia is like the stomach ache. If you are experiencing a variety of symptoms, such as memory loss, getting lost in familiar circumstances, not wanting to bathe and increased confusion, then the root cause needs to be found. Some forms of dementia, such as those from vitamin deficiency and some thyroid conditions, are curable. Others, such as those associated with Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s, are treatable. Symptoms can be lessened for a time, and quality of life can be improved.
Is dementia a normal part of ageing?
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are not a normal part of ageing. Even though the instances increase with age, healthy cognitive function is normal. Some slight memory loss may occur in people as they age, and is no reason for panic.
Is it better to have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease?
I’ve heard people say, “He has dementia, but at least he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s.” One is not a degree of the other. AD is the disease and dementia is the symptom. If you have dementia from another source (such as vascular dementia, Parkinson’s etc.) it’s still dementia, and presents much the same.
You can’t have a little bit of dementia. Both dementia and AD are categorised as mild, mid-stage and end-stage or severe. You can’t catch it. If you have a parent, brother, sister or child with AD, you are more likely get it. A gene, called APOE-e4, has been identified as a risk gene. If you inherit it from one parent, you have a 20-25% chance of getting the disease. If you inherited it from both parents, your chances are greater. However, having the gene, even from both parents, does not guarantee you will get the disease.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
“Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological disease of the brain leading to irreversible loss of neurons and the loss of intellectual abilities, including memory and reasoning, which becomes severe enough to impede social or occupational functioning.” 1
“A progressive neurological disease”–it’s progressive in that it gets worse, and there is no cure. Everyone who has lived with Alzheimer’s knows that this isn’t a steady decline. There are good days where the person functions so well, you begin to wonder if they received a correct diagnosis. On bad days, however, the fog descends and there are huge gaps in understanding of even the basics of life. When all the days are put together, however, over a period of time, you can see a decline. A neurological disease is a disorder of the brain, spinal chord and nerves throughout the body. In Alzheimer’s Disease, “plaques and tangles” develop in the brain during the course of the disease, causing brain cells to die.
People with Alzheimer’s Disease also have lower levels of some brain chemicals that are important in the transmission of messages in the brain. These are called neurotransmitters.
“loss of intellectual abilities, including memory and reasoning.” Alzheimer’s is so much more than memory loss. It affects the ability of a person to reason and make decisions. Someone with Alzheimer’s finds it increasingly difficult to come to conclusions based on arguments or a perceived outcome. An example of this might be bathing. Some people become resistent to bathing, and no amount of reasoning (you’ll feel better, you’ll smell better, it’s healthy to bathe etc.) will change their mind. They don’t want to bathe, and reasoning means nothing to them.
“which becomes severe enough to impede social or occupational functioning.” The bottom line is, Alzheimer’s changes the life of the person who has the disease. Social masks, which we all wear, often drop away, so that what we might think, the person with Alzheimer’s might say. Quickly into the disease progress, the person is no longer able to drive, unable to continue working and may not be able to live alone.
Another medical term (which I’ve referred to before) is the ADL’s. The activities of daily living. These are often referred to because they are the basics- eating, dressing, personal hygiene, handling bowel and bladder functions, mobility. As the disease progresses, the person with Alzheimer’s Disease has more difficulties with these basic functions, and needs more support.
This sounds so grim. Is life over with a diagnosis?
Definitely not! Next week we will look at quality of life and purpose for people at all stages of the disease.
- http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159442.php
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