Dementia is a group of medical conditions, in which an individual can experience loss of brain’s cognitive functions, mental abilities and memory. Dementia is a progressive disorder that may lead to other problems including depression, psychosis and anxiety. Dementia is different from loss of memory state in advanced ages, which is called as Senile Dementia. There are many types of dementia and the exact cause depends upon the types of the dementia but most of the cases have genetic causes, mutations in the genes that produce the key neuro-synaptic transmission proteins such as Amyloid Precursor Proteins (APP) and biochemical-mediated pathological brain nerve cell damage. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) health data, there are approximately 51.3 million people affected by Dementia with a constant increase of 4.6 million cases every year. Dementia is common in the developed countries and the prevalence is less common in the third world countries.
Causes
There are many causes such as include Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, semantic dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Pick disease, and alcohol-induced dementia, and other medical conditions such as Wilson’s disease, Gaucher’s disease, meningioma, encephalopathy and meningitis can cause neuro-degenerative dementia. Treating some of the modifiable and treatable risk factors such as infections, hydroencephalopathy, drugs, alcohol intake, tumours and other biochemical diseases can prevent the incidence, prevalence and progression of this disorder.
Symptoms
• Memory loss
• Loss of cognitive functions
• Delirium
• Disorientation
• Depression
• Agitation
• Anxiety
• Behavioral and sleep problems
• Mood swings and self-neglecting behaviors
• Inability to perform daily activities
Diagnosis
• Complete blood counts
• Estimation of Vitamin B12 and folic acid Levels
• Peripheral smear study
• Serum electrolytes
• Liver function tests
• CT
• MRI
• EEG
• PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography)
Treatment Options
The main treatment option is medical management. As of now, there is no permanent cure is available, and the drugs prescribed can treat the symptoms for the time-being. The main drugs prescribed for the treatment of dementia are anti-cholinesterase blockers such as galantamine, rivastigmine, taccrine, donepezil, and NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) blockers like memantine group of drugs and pain medication to treat the symptoms. Some of the off-label drugs such as anti-psychotic drugs, anxiolytic drugs and stimulants are used to treat Dementia, but none of these are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some of the new clinical trial drugs such as propentofylline and pentoxifylline are found to be useful, and these drugs are still in clinical evaluation research studies. Apart from medications, surgical procedures are also prescribed by the neurologist. But it depends on the severity, type of the underlying disease like tumor and feasibility and necessity for such patients.
Prognosis
Most of these patients with minor underlying diseases such as vitamin deficiency can be treated, and they can be free from symptoms for the rest of the life. But in the non-modifiable underlying risk factors and in advanced stages, some of the drugs can delay the disease progression, and none of the medical management can cure the problem and the prognosis is usually fatal.
Prevention Strategies
Though there are no effective prevention methods available, some of the research studies claim that anti-hypertensive drugs and moderate consumption of alcohol can lower the incidence of dementia. Some of the alternative and complementary medicines such as occupational therapies, music therapy, physical therapy, yoga and meditation can prevent or delay the progression of this disorder.
When to see a doctor
If you feel something abnormal in your daily activities, memory loss, inability to tell the synonyms of the words or word-finding difficulties, cognitive disabilities including poor judgment, abnormal psychological behaviors such as self-neglect, poor hygiene, which are complained by your family members and friends, they may be symptoms of dementia. You need to seek medical advice, right away.
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