Stress is also closely linked to conditions such as depression and anxiety. These have also been suggested as factors that could increase the risk of dementia. Some research in animal models has found that stress appears to have a direct impact on some of the mechanisms underlying dementia.
other long-term health problems – dementia tends to progress more quickly if the person is living with other conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure, particularly if these are not well-managed.
Coping Strategy. "Don't stress. Recognize that some things may become more difficult for you to do. Try to accept that these changes are out of your control and focus on the things you can still do."
Overview of disease progression
However, not all people with MCI develop dementia. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease worsen over time, although the rate at which the disease progresses varies.
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.
I'm going to discuss five of the most basic ones here: 1) Don't tell them they are wrong about something, 2) Don't argue with them, 3) Don't ask if they remember something, 4) Don't remind them that their spouse, parent or other loved one is dead, and 5) Don't bring up topics that may upset them.
Being active, eating a better diet, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, keeping normal blood pressure, controlling cholesterol and having low blood sugar in middle age may all lower the chances of developing conditions such as Alzheimer's disease later in life, research suggests.
Aggression usually starts in the mid-stage of dementia. This is the time when other behaviours, such as hoarding wandering, and compulsive behaviour are also prone to develop. In most types of dementia, the aggressive symptoms occur when the patient becomes more dependent with daily activities.
The biggest risk factor for dementia is ageing. This means as a person gets older, their risk of developing dementia increases a lot. For people aged between 65 and 69, around 2 in every 100 people have dementia. A person's risk then increases as they age, roughly doubling every five years.
Administration: The examiner reads a list of 5 words at a rate of one per second, giving the following instructions: “This is a memory test. I am going to read a list of words that you will have to remember now and later on. Listen carefully. When I am through, tell me as many words as you can remember.
The Mini-Cog test.
A third test, known as the Mini-Cog, takes 2 to 4 minutes to administer and involves asking patients to recall three words after drawing a picture of a clock. If a patient shows no difficulties recalling the words, it is inferred that he or she does not have dementia.
Stay mentally and socially active. Engaging in mental or social activities may help to build up your brain's ability to cope with disease, relieve stress and improve your mood. This means doing these activities may help to delay, or even prevent, dementia from developing.
The most well-known form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, is just one specific type of dementia, and tends to have the slowest progression of all types.
Although a person's own experience of living with dementia varies, as does their needs for care and support, common everyday challenges for people with dementia include washing, getting dressed, eating and bathing. Dementia is a progressive condition.
Examining five lifestyle factors
Smoking, alcohol usage, leisure-time physical activity, sleep duration, and diet quality were all examined both individually and in combination.
Those who watched the most television daily — more than four hours — were 24% more likely to develop dementia. Those who used computers interactively (not passively streaming) more than one hour daily as a leisure activity were 15% less likely to develop dementia.
In stage 6 of dementia, a person may start forgetting the names of close loved ones and have little memory of recent events.
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.
One of the most common causes of death for people with dementia is pneumonia caused by an infection. A person in the later stages of dementia may have symptoms that suggest that they are close to death, but can sometimes live with these symptoms for many months.
If you aren't sure which stage of dementia you or your loved one are in right now, take an online Alzheimer's test. This can help pinpoint an individual's symptoms and stage.