In the elderly dementia can produce significant deficits in functional abilities and mental health, which can affect their safety and independent living at home. Elderly people face certain difficulty in doing their basic self care needs such as bathing, hygiene, and dressing, facing problems with taking timely medications, cooking and eating adequate meals, prone to injuries and falling down two to work coordination, problems in communicating, weakness and poor safety awareness.

 Elderly dementia can also cause a change in psychosis and delusional thinking, personality and a host of other problems, both insidious and evident.

 What types of dementia affects elderly the most?

 Elderly people are usually affected with Alzheimer’s dementia. There are also other forms of dementia that can affect older adults. The other forms include multi-infarct dementia, vascular dementia, Lewey body dementia, and Fronto-temporal dementia. Older adults with other primary disorders such as Parkinson disease and stroke may also develop some form of dementia at certain point of time which affects their mental health and function.

 Dementia can be broadly classified as mild, moderate or severe. If Alzheimer dementia is diagnosed in someone who is 65 years of age, the disease advancement tends to be faster and more severe than in a person who is 80 years old and only recently diagnosed with the disorder.

 What functional and mental problems the elderly undergo with this disorder?

 In an elder person it is crucial to know what type of dementia he is suffering from and if any medications should be given for the physical and mental health disorder. Usually older adults at home will not get an accurate treatment and receive the proper medication which can make living at home tougher both for the person and the caretaker.

 In elder person with Alzheimer’s dementia they have difficulty with speech and communication skills. Person with Alzheimer may have problem to express themselves and communicate with others. Decreased socialization and withdrawal may occur. An elderly may become depressed due to a recognition that their mental health abilities have decreased. An anti-depressant should be given to treat symptoms of their dementia.

 Elderly people require cognitive and functional components to do their task properly which they lack with problems of dementia. Proper medical care should be given to get them away from this problem. Elder care is very important to help them do their day to day activities independently.

 What happens when mental abilities decreases in elderly person and alterations required fitting their needs?

 When mental abilities are diminished elders are at the highest risk of declined mental health and physical health. Diminishing mental abilities and physical health related to cognitive deficits can occur due to malnutrition and poor eating habits, lack of hygiene and self care skills, more risk of falling, improper taking of medications everyday.

 Safety home adaptations to fit the needs includes bright rooms and stairwells, hand rails for climbing stairs, shower to bath, do not throw clutter on their path, proper carpets, limitation in carrying things to upstairs such as laundry, keep vehicle keys away from their reach to avoid them from driving which usually a tough issue to convey for those with dementia.

 For elderly with mild to moderate dementia who live at home, here are some tips that may be helpful for the individual and the family or caretaker.

1. The disorder should be diagnosed properly in a person with dementia and to provide with sufficient medication. It is important that a caretaker look after them and insure that medications are taken everyday.
2. See that medications are dispensed daily by the caretaker. In this way a caretaker can make sure that everyday medications are taken.
3. Adapt proper eating habits to prevent malnutrition. Teach them more physical activity like walking to improve the mental health and physical health in elderly person.
4. Take care that those with mild dementia often become more excited in the evening and they should not be induced during this period. Make them sleep to calm down.

All about Dementia and Elder Care is a post from: Mental Health

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a serious brain disorder resulting from the damage to the brain’s nerve cells which impacts the everyday living like memory loss and other cognitive changes (The psychological result of perception, learning and reasoning). 

Alzheimer’s is a degenerative disease which progresses from mild forgetfulness which is severe enough to affect their work, lifelong hobbies and even the social life.

Mental health symptoms are the changes in the brain which gradually terminate the ability to create, remember, reason, and learn etc.

There is a common tendency for confusion or trouble in organizing and expressing feelings of thoughts, forgetting and misplacing things, getting lost even in the familiar places, and changes in personality and behavior. The disease gradually worsens as more cells are damaged and destroyed.

What are the signs and symptoms that can lead to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis?

In order to arrive at a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, we will need to gather the family history information, order medical tests, and estimate your memory loss using a variety of assessments. Out of them, the most important information relates to past and present mental health of the person.

Classic patterns not only eliminate other causes, but they also distinguish Alzheimer’s from other forms of dementia.

The following criteria are very essential to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease:

• Significant memory problems - delayed recall, short term or long term memory loss
• Significant thinking deficits - is seen in at least one of the four areas which are expressing and comprehending language, identifying familiar objects through the senses, poor coordination, gait or muscle dysfunction. They might also experience problems with the executive functions of planning, ordering, and making judgments.
• Significant decline which is severe enough to interfere with relationships and work performance
• Symptoms appear gradually and steadily worsen over a period of time
• Other mental health causes are ruled out. Memory and cognitive symptoms are surely related to Alzheimer’s.

What are the various types of dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease?

Mild cognitive impairment:

A person will experience problems with memory or one of the other core functions when affected by dementia. These problems are severe enough to be noticeable to other people and to show up on tests of mental health functions, but it is not serious enough to interfere with daily life. If symptoms do not disrupt the daily activities, the person does not meet criteria for being diagnosed with dementia.

Individuals with mild cognitive impairment have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer disease over the years, especially when their main problem involves memory.

However, not everyone diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment progresses to Alzheimer’s or another kind of dementia.

Vascular dementia:

This dementia is the second most common type, after the Alzheimer’s disease. It normally occurs when the blood flow to the brains are blocked by the clots, thereby depriving the nerve cells of nutrition and oxygen.

If it develops soon after a single major stroke, it blocks the large blood vessels and it is sometimes termed as the post-stroke dementia. Vascular dementia symptoms can vary from person to person, depending on the brain regions involved with the issue.

In vascular dementia, forgetfulness is the main symptom along with confusion. The damage may occur slowly step by step which involves subtle changes in mental health functions.

Mixed dementia:

In mixed dementia, Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia occur at the same time. Decline may follow a pattern similar to either Alzheimer or vascular dementia or a combination of both. In this type, the symptoms of dementia steadily worsen.

Moderately Severe or Middle Dementia Alzheimer’s disease:

The main symptoms are lack of present awareness and the inability to accurately remember the past. The patients progressively lose their ability to dress and bathe independently. Bowel and bladder incontinence often occur along with repetitive verbal or non-verbal behaviors such as wandering. Suspicion and personality changes are common. 

They cannot remember close family members but know do realize that they are familiar. Agitation and hallucinations are particularly experienced in the late afternoons with the diminishing mental health function.

Frontotemporal dementia:

This is a rare disorder chiefly affecting the frontal region and sides of the brain. Fronto-temporal dementia progresses more quickly than Alzheimer’s disease and tends to occur at a younger age. The first symptoms often involve changes in personality, judgment, planning and social skills. Mental health declines gradually along with activities of daily living.

Brief introduction to Alzheimer’s & other Dementias is a post from: Mental Health