By Staff Writer Dementia • A syndrome, not a disease. • It is a group of symptoms that affects mental cognitive tasks such as memory and reasoning. • People can have more than one type of dementia known as mixed dementia. • According to World Health Organization, 47.5 million people around t...

By Staff Writer

Dementia

• A syndrome, not a disease.

• It is a group of symptoms that affects mental cognitive tasks such as memory and reasoning.

• People can have more than one type of dementia known as mixed dementia.

• According to World Health Organization, 47.5 million people around the world are living with dementia.

• Symptoms include forgetfulness and confusion.

• As it progresses into advanced stages behaviors can turn into depression and aggression.

• People are more likely to develop dementia as you age, but some other contributing factors are infections such as HIV, vascular diseases, stroke, depression and chronic drug use.

• Some treatment includes analyzing the conditions that causes dementia, such as drugs, tumors, metabolic disorders and hypoglycemia.

• Under most circumstances, the disease is not reversible.

Alzheimer’s

• A progressive disease of the brain that slowly causes impairment in memory and cognitive function.

• The National Institutes of Health estimate that more than 5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease.

• Symptoms generally begin after age 60, but can also occur in younger people.

• Damage to the brain begins years before symptoms appear.

• Abnormal protein deposits form plaques and tangles in the brain.

• Connections between cells are lost, and they begin to die. In advanced cases, the brain shows significant shrinkage.

• Symptoms include difficultly remembering recent events or conversations, apathy, depression, impaired judgment, disorientation, confusion and behavioral changes.

• In advanced stages it can cause difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking.

• There is no known cure for Alzheimer, but there are options to manage symptoms.