Injury or changes in the brain cause dementia. Do you know that there are several causes of dementia? However, with treatment, some can be reversed, but most cannot be. Signs of dementia differ significantly between people and depend on the area and cause of the brain that is affected as well. There is no particular sign of dementia. There are several distinct signs, and a person who has dementia have many (but not all) of these signs. In several instances, the signs may go unrecognised and be subtle for some time, whereas other circumstances may have proclaimed signs. What is the first symptom of dementia? It is usually the memory loss. Essentially, the person has a lack of short-term memory, and next, all the features of consciousness are changed. The person may forget the name of an acquaintance or forget where kept an object just a few minutes ago.
What are the characteristic symptoms of dementia?
- Dementia causes the person to have highly detailed, frequent visual hallucinations. They may see other animals or people that are not real and may exhibit a trend to fall regularly.
- Fronto-temporal dementia: It may cause unusual behaviour or personality changes. People with such dementia might become less susceptible to other people’s passions—this makes them seem unfeeling and cold. They may say rude things or stop caring for others. They may expose themselves and often lose inhibitions or make sexually or derogatory unacceptable comments.
- Signs of dementia may begin quickly in vascular dementia, or it may occur slowly. They may also have stroke-like signs, such as paralysis or muscle weakness on the particular side of the body.
What are the signs and symptoms of dementia?
- Having difficulty or trouble in remembering recent developments.
- Misremembering well-known places and people.
- Having trouble in managing day to day calculations.
- Having difficulty in carrying out tasks and planning, such as paying bills and balancing a chequebook.
- Having trouble in pursuing directions such as writing a letter or following a recipe.
- Having difficulty in making choices such as what to do if there is a puppy suddenly in front of the car while driving or if food is burning on the stove.
- Having a constant change of behaviours or moods. People with dementia may become aggressive or agitated or are often depressed.
- Not taking care of individual health such as bathing or grooming.
Here are some less common cause of dementia
- head injury
- brain infection such as encephalitis or meningitis
- the underactive or overactive thyroid gland
- deficiency of vitamin B in the food
- poisoning with pesticides, lead poisoning
- specific brain tumours
- specific heart and lung conditions which cause interference of the accumulation of oxygen and blood to the brain.
- Huntington's disease, a rare hereditary disorder which causes progressive brain damage
- (CJD) Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a fatal and rare disease in which the nervous system and brain are damaged
Here are some treatable causes of dementia
- Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland)
- Deficiency of Vitamin B12
- Heavy-metal poisoning from lead.
- Side effects of drug interactions or medicines.
- Specific brain tumours.
- Persistent addiction.
- Alcoholism, HIV/AIDS.
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