The most common question I’m asked in interviews, during public speaking events, education workshops I host, and on-line is – “What is dementia”. That's a very good question which I always address in uncomplicated terms. .
We will actively explore ‘What is dementia’, and this will be examined from two different perspectives.
One is what is dementia, and equally and very importantly –“What dementia isn't”.
Here’s what we will be looking at.
What is Dementia ?
Is Dementia a disease or not ?
More than Memory Loss
Diagnosing Dementia
What else is Dementia ?
Dementia statistics in Australia
Preventing Dementia
It may not be Dementia
What is dementia?
Dementia is complicated. Dementia is not one thing. Dementia is an umbrella term that describes a collection of signs and symptoms that affects a person's ability to function well on a cognitive level.
This means their ability to reason, to think, to organise and it can actually have a quite heavy effect on their ability to accomplish day-to-day activities.
Is Dementia a disease or not?
Dementia is a condition and not a disease. That needs to be stressed. Dementia is caused by disease and/or injury. A lot of people hear the word Alzheimer's and believe that Alzheimer's and dementia are the same thing. Indeed, they are related, but are different. Alzheimer’s is a disease that causes a dementia condition.
Alzheimer's disease is not the only disease that causes a dementia. In fact research suggests that there's over a hundred different individual diseases that will cause a dementia condition.
In Australia there are four common dementias. Although the symptoms of dementia may vary between individuals, some symptoms are characteristic of specific types of dementia as follows:
Alzheimer’s Disease. Symptoms may include:
Gradual changes over months/years
Declined ability to form new memories
Confusion
Problems finding words
Personality changes
Vascular Dementia. Symptoms may include:
Sudden changes
Insight/judgement/behaviour ‘not-the-same’
May bounce back and have good/bad days
Shifts in emotion and energy
Frontal-Temporal Dementias. Symptoms may include:
Significant Personality/Behavioural Changes
Impaired Planning/Judgement/Speech Production
Loss in understanding language
Loss of Empathy
Lewy Body Dementias. Symptoms may include:
Loss of Attention
Problems with movement
Fine motor skills problems - hands/swallowing
Visual Hallucinations/Nightmares/Sleep disorders
Episodes of rigidity and fainting
More than Memory Loss
Dementia is not just simply memory loss. Yes, memory loss is a sign or symptom of Alzheimer's disease and some other causes of dementia. However, some individuals can have dementia without noticeable memory loss.
There are a number of physical manifestations of the dementia condition that most people don't even consider and/or recognise. Dementia can affect our gait, our digestive systems, sleep patterns, ability to use our hands properly, the ability to coordinate our actions and ability to drive. It's important that these are recognised and understood, and this will be a subject of a future article.
Diagnosing Dementia
It is really difficult to diagnose a dementia in a living person. Confirmation of dementia occurs during a post mortem examination of the brain and brain tissue under a microscope. There's no definitive test in a living person. There's no blood test, no brain scan and/or x-ray. A probable diagnosis occurs with the assistance of a number of screening tests. However, more details surrounding a dementia diagnosis will be discussed in a later article.
What else is Dementia?
Well it affects the brain and only the brain. It impairs cognitive function. That is, our ability to think, to reason, to rationalise.
Dementia is progressive in nature. That means it starts off very slowly and very subtly, and it’s hard to pick up. Over a period of time, such as months and years, the signs become more pronounced.
It is not a normal part or natural part of aging. I want to stress that.
Age is a risk factor, but age is not a cause. Indeed the chances of developing a dementia does increase dramatically over the age of 65. That is a proven fact, but surprisingly to a lot of people just because you're under the age of 65 doesn't mean you can't develop this condition.
There are well known cases of people in their 60s, 50s, 40s even in their 30s and 20s who have developed a condition of dementia. There is also a thing known as Childhood Dementia. These cases are rare but they are there.
Currently there is no cure and dementia impacts thousands of families, and the tentacles of this insidious condition spreads throughout the community.
Dementia statistics in Australia
Currently in Australia in 2022 there are:
about 472,000 individuals with a level of dementia
there is 1 new diagnoses every 6 minutes, that’s 240-250 individuals per day
It’s the 2nd leading cause of death
It’s the leading cause of death of Australian women
Up to 70% of people with dementia still live in their own homes
