For many years, individuals with frontotemporal dementia show muscle weakness and coordination problems, leaving them needing a wheelchair — or unable to leave the bed.
There are different personal risk factors that cause people to fall, however, people with dementia are at greater risk because they: are more likely to experience problems with mobility, balance and muscle weakness.
Dementia inhibits the ability to walk
Dementia can affect areas of the brain that are responsible for movement and balance. Many individuals affected by Alzheimer's and other types of dementia gradually lose the ability to walk and perform everyday tasks.
In the late stage of Alzheimer's, the person typically becomes unable to walk.
As more strokes occur and dementia progresses, people may have other symptoms due to the strokes. An arm or a leg may become weak or paralyzed.
For people living with vascular and frontotemporal dementia, experts agree that muscle weakness and limb paralysis is often due to a series of mini, or large strokes in the brain. Both of these can massively impair someone with a range of physical as well as cognitive damage.
In vascular dementia, problems walking or balancing can happen early. With Alzheimer's, these symptoms usually occur late in the disease.
Importantly, I found that the people with Lewy body dementia had a unique walking pattern that distinguished them from those with Alzheimer's disease. Their steps were even more variable and asymmetric when they walked.
Dementia is likely to have a big physical impact on the person in the later stages of the condition. They may gradually lose their ability to walk, stand or get themselves up from the chair or bed. They may also be more likely to fall.
For many years, individuals with frontotemporal dementia show muscle weakness and coordination problems, leaving them needing a wheelchair — or unable to leave the bed. These muscle issues can cause problems swallowing, chewing, moving and controlling bladder and/or bowels.
Those who walk more slowly and show declining cognitive function like memory loss are at a higher risk of developing dementia.
We all lose some physical mobility as we age but with dementia, this process is accelerated. Dementia affects coordination and balance, meaning that movement can become slower or jerky and make people more likely to fall or become accident-prone.
The person in the final months of dementia will experience increased mental and physical deterioration, eventually needing 24-hour care. When the person nears death, the focus shifts to palliative care and comfort.
Diabetes and atherosclerosis are the main causes of poor circulation in the body, but are also associated with smoking, living an inactive lifestyle, or having high blood pressure or cholesterol. To reduce lower extremity weakness, elevate your legs while your sitting or laying down to increase your bodies circulation.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a progressive cognitive decline, mostly prominent in the domain of memory, but also associated with other cognitive deficits and non-cognitive symptoms. Reduced muscle strength is common in AD.
What is ataxia? Ataxia is a loss of muscle control. People with ataxia lose muscle control in their arms and legs. This may lead to a lack of balance, coordination, and trouble walking.
Dementia-related gait changes (DRGC) mainly include decrease in walking speed provoked by a decrease in stride length and an increase in support phase.
Vascular dementia and mobility difficulties often go hand in hand. Vascular dementia is degenerative meaning it gets worse over time although it may be possible to slow progression and to better manage symptoms.
There is no way to be sure how quickly a person's dementia will progress. Some people with dementia will need support very soon after their diagnosis. In contrast, others will stay independent for several years.
The average life expectancy figures for the most common types of dementia are as follows: Alzheimer's disease – around eight to 10 years. Life expectancy is less if the person is diagnosed in their 80s or 90s. A few people with Alzheimer's live for longer, sometimes for 15 or even 20 years.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease causes a type of dementia that gets worse unusually fast. More common causes of dementia, such as Alzheimer's, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia, typically progress more slowly.
Symptoms often overlap with those of other types of dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease dementia. But unlike Alzheimer's disease, the most significant symptoms of vascular dementia tend to involve speed of thinking and problem-solving rather than memory loss.
The most common symptoms of vascular dementia during the early stages are: problems with planning or organising, making decisions or solving problems. difficulties following a series of steps (such as when cooking a meal) slower speed of thought.
The later stages include greater levels of confusion, mood changes, and memory problems. People may also have hallucinations in the later stages. If you have vascular dementia following a stroke, you may also experience the effects of the stroke.