Dementi The Most Common Form Of Progressive Dementia

Dementia is a chronic disorder associated with a decline in cognitive functioning typically characterized by memory impairment, increased communication and language difficulty and decreased motor activity that interferes with activities of daily living. Patients with dementia may also experience agitation, hallucinations, paranoia and difficultly with complex tasks. People with a family history of dementia and older adults are more prone to dementia. Dementia can be reversible or progressive depending on the cause. Dementia resulting from infections, reactions to medications, anoxia and poisoning can be reversed with medical treatment. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of progressive dementia currently affecting 5.3 million Americans. Of the 5.3 million, 5.1 million people are the elderly population with two-thirds of those affected being women. There is no treatment available to cure dementia but measures can be taken to sustain the quality of life. Dementia not only affects the patients directly, but also family members and caregivers as well. Family members deal with patient’s memory loss, changes in personality and also have to take care of the ill patients financially. According to WHO, the cost of dementia in 2010 worldwide was estimated to be $604 billion dollars. Apart from the economic pressure, family members also deal with the physical and emotional pressures that come with dementia. According to Bekhet, family members care for up to 80% of dementiaShow MoreRelatedLevel 3 Health and Social Care Unit 365dementia3984 Words   |  16 PagesUnit 365 Understanding the Process and Experience of Dementia. A1 Describe the causes of all the different types of Dementia Alzheimer’s disease: The brain is a very complex organ and it is divided up into different areas that control bodily functions. The brain contains at least 100 billion cells. In dementia some of these cells stop working. The part of the brain this occurs in will affect how that person thinks, remembers and communicates. Alzheimers disease, first