Dementia: Explained

Dementia is the name for a severe progressive disease, which causes those who suffer with it a decline in their mental abilities. With memory loss being the most common symptom, it is often difficult for people living in dementia care to cope well on their own. This is because the person typically forgets what they were doing just a couple of seconds beforehand. Although dementia is a general term, it should be noted there are other ways of referring to the condition, with Alzheimer’s being the most common.

As dementia is not the specific term for the disease, it helps healthcare services and those around it understand the symptoms surrounding it. The symptoms make everyday life for the person much more difficult, resulting in them needing domiciliary care in most circumstances. Those in dementia care jobs need to be aware that the symptoms of each person can vary greatly, though they normally include impairment with memory, visual perception, focus, communication and judgment.

The simple tasks or at least ones that they used to know well can be far more challenging. Such tasks include paying bills, keeping track of appointments, planning meals or remembering where they put down their drink; essentially anything short term. As well as this, in most instances dementia is a progressive thing, which means symptoms that the person suffers do gradually get worse. This is why if you ever see any signs, you should reach out to the person and ensure they get some help from healthcare services.

Even though there is no current cure for the disease, it’s important to seek professional help when possible as it means the person gets a professional diagnosis. When they have this diagnosis, it can ensure the person has access to available treatments and also the opportunity to contribute to clinical trials. Additionally, they can receive the best domiciliary care available.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of speculation, studies and suggestions as to what causes dementia, but with the main reason always being damage to brain cells. Due to this damage, it gets in the way of normal functions of brain cells that need to communicate effectively with each other. And when this miscommunication happens, it makes a person’s normal functions like thinking become affected.

The reason for memory loss being so common for those in dementia care, is because when it’s first developing the hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory) is the first area to suffer damage. What doesn’t make determining if someone has dementia any easier, is there isn’t one test for diagnosis. Doctors and healthcare services must conduct several different tests, examinations and analysis of medical history, along with studying day to day thinking to gain a proper prognosis.

If someone you know receives a diagnosis, it’s important to support them the best you can. This is always good to do for helping them settle with the idea of domiciliary care too, as many adjustments in their life will already be occurring. And as a final word, just being in the person's presence helps them a lot too.