The Exact Cause of Dementia Essay - 906 Words

Have you ever had the feeling when you can’t remember a specific thing and it drives you insane? Well try living with Dementia. Dementia is not a disease; it is a group of symptoms caused by another disease, which produces a progressive loss of cognitive functioning (Psychology Today). People often believe that because of old age, a person may have Dementia, but this is a false accusation. In old age you may forget a few things here and there, but it is only when the symptoms affect the person’s daily life that it can be called Dementia. The exact cause of Dementia is damage to the brain cells; it affects the way the brain cells are able to communicate with one another. When the cells aren’t able to communicate, it commonly disturbs†¦show more content†¦Dementia not only has different types, but it has different stages that it advances in. There are 5 stages of Dementia on the CDR or Clinical Dementia Rating Scale, Stage 1 (CDR-0), 2 (CDR-0.5), 3 (CDR-1), 4 (CDR-2) and 5 (CDR-3). Each stage has different characteristics to describe what’s happening to the brain at each point. Stage 1 is No Impairment, no significant memory problems, full oriented, have normal judgment and a well-maintained home life. Stage 2 or very mild Dementia, may struggle to solve challenging problems and have trouble with timing. Stage 3 or Mild Dementia, short term memory is suffering and disrupts their day. In this stage they are becoming disoriented and have troubles with directions. Stage 4, Moderate Impairment, at t his stage people need help with hygiene and need to be accompanied to social activities. Lastly Stage 5 the most severe stage, Severe Impairment is when the person cannot function at all without help; they experience extreme memory and have no understanding of orientation in time and space. There are different types and stages of Dementia that people may experience, and each and every type should be treated with the same care. Alzheimer’s disease caused dementia has an extreme effect on the brain. Drastic changes happen to the brain the as the disease progresses rapidly everyday. Alzheimer’s disease leads to nerveShow MoreRelatedAlzheimer s Disease, And Vascular Dementia1565 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract Dementia is considered to be discovered by a German psychiatrist by the name of Alois Alzheimer. This discovery was made during the process of his examination of a patient with unusual behavior. In that discovery he found similarities that are linked to having Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia is known as being a slow, yet steady decline of one’s mental ability. The disease eventually becomes so severe that it will interfere with one’s daily living ability. 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