What is Dementia

Dementia Prevention (youtube.com)

 

What is Dementia?

Dementia is a general term that describes a decline in cognitive function severe enough to interfere with daily life. It affects memory, thinking, and social abilities. Here are some critical points about dementia:

Symptoms

• Memory loss: Often noticed by others.
• Difficulty communicating: Finding the right words can be challenging.
• Disorientation: Confusion about time or place.
• Difficulty with complex tasks: Trouble planning or organizing.
• personality changes: Mood swings, depression, or anxiety.

Causes

• Alzheimer’s disease: The most common cause involving brain cell damage.
• Vascular dementia: Caused by conditions that block or reduce blood flow to the brain.
• Lewy body dementia: Characterized by abnormal protein deposits in the brain.
• Frontotemporal dementia: Involves damage to the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.

Diagnosis

• Cognitive tests: Assess memory, problem-solving, and other thinking skills.
• Brain imaging: MRI or CT scans to look for brain changes.
• Lab tests: Check for underlying conditions that might cause symptoms.

Treatment

• Medications: To manage symptoms and slow progression (e.g., cholinesterase inhibitors, NMDA receptor antagonists).
• Therapies: Occupational therapy to help manage daily tasks and maintain independence.

Prevention and Management

• Healthy lifestyle: Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and mental stimulation.
• Early detection: Regular check-ups and monitoring for early signs.

It's important to remember that dementia is not a normal part of aging. Being informed and aware can help you recognize the early signs and seek timely treatment, significantly improving the quality of life.

Here is the story of a 64-year-old resident of Seoul, Mr. A, who recently found it increasingly challenging to continue conversations with those around him. Words that lingered in his mind did not quickly come out of his mouth. He occasionally couldn’t remember events from a few days ago and often forgot necessary appointments, leading him to develop a habit of taking notes. Simple arithmetic also became increasingly difficult. Alarmed, Mr. A visited a dementia clinic at a hospital and, after a thorough examination, was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to dementia.

Dementia is when a person living an everyday life experiences a persistent decline in various cognitive functions, making daily and social life challenging. Dementia is not a diagnosis but a term that encompasses a group of symptoms. When dementia is suspected, it is essential to identify the exact cause and provide appropriate treatment.

There are over 50 causes of dementia, but Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia account for about 80% of all dementia cases. Other types include Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia. Alzheimer’s disease first affects the temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and hippocampus, with symptoms starting as memory decline. Vascular dementia is caused by strokes or blockages in small brain vessels, leading to a variety of symptoms. Frontotemporal dementia, as the name suggests, results from atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes, with sudden personality or behaviour changes being the most prominent symptoms.

The symptoms and treatments of dementia vary depending on the cause. Therefore, dementia is diagnosed through neuropsychological tests, brain MRI, amyloid PET-CT, cognitive function tests, brain imaging, and biomarker tests to identify the cause. Amyloid PET-CT is handy in predicting whether mild cognitive impairment will progress to dementia. As the importance of biomarkers in diagnosing dementia is emphasized, recent research has been actively conducted on discovering and diagnosing biomarkers using blood and cerebrospinal fluid.

Early detection and treatment are crucial for dementia. While memory decline can be a natural part of aging, frequent forgetfulness of essential matters or worsening forgetfulness over the years may indicate dementia. Dementia can also be easily self-diagnosed at home.

Dementia treatment primarily involves medication. In dementia patients, cognitive function declines as nerve cells that secrete acetylcholine in the brain are destroyed. Medications such as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists can improve cognitive function and slow the progression of dementia. In addition to medication, lifestyle modifications following cognitive health guidelines for dementia prevention can also slow the decline in mental function. Research results have shown that simple lifestyle changes can help prevent dementia.

Professor Kang Seong-hoon of the Department of Neurology at Korea University Guro Hospital advises, “Dementia is not an incurable disease. It can be overcome if accurately diagnosed early and appropriate medication is administered. If dementia is diagnosed after significant progression, both the patient and caregivers may suffer greatly without effective treatment. Therefore, if dementia is suspected through self-diagnosis, it is important to visit a hospital for accurate diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible.”

Self-Diagnosis for Dementia

1. Do not know what month or day it is.
2. Cannot find items they placed themselves.
3. Repeatedly ask the same questions.
4. Forget appointments.
5. Go to get something and forget what it was.
6. Hesitate to name objects or people.
7. Do not understand the content of conversations and repeatedly ask about it.
8. Have gotten lost or wandered.
9. Have worse calculation ability than before.
10. Have had a personality change.
11. They have become clumsy with the tools they used to handle well.
12. Cannot organize their room or surroundings as well as before.
13. Cannot choose appropriate clothes for the situation.
14. Have difficulty using public transportation alone to reach their destination.
15. Do not want to change dirty underwear or clothes.

(Source: Korean Dementia Screening Questionnaire; KDSQ-C)

※ If you meet six or more of the 15 items, please get an accurate dementia diagnosis and examination.