…Are you scared of dementia?
According to research, dementia is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world, along with cancer and diabetes. Sources say that there are 55.2 million people on the globe who suffer from brain damage.
Dementia is a gradual and, in some cases, chronic brain disorder that causes difficulties in different aspects of people’s lives, including troubles associated with thinking, behavior, and memory. The worst part about all this is that it might affect the lives of those we care about deeply.
Brain damage is not a disease in and of itself but a condition whose symptoms are shared by a number of different neurological disorders. And the worst part of all this is that the treatment is hard, and if someone finds out too late, it might not have promising results.
Speaking of that, this situation will only worsen with time. However, drugs have the potential to reduce this deterioration and ease symptoms such as behavioral abnormalities.
According to researchers, there are plenty of types of dementia, and the treatment that someone needs is based on what kind they have. We wanted to know more about this topic, so this article is all about different types of brain damage and how to identify yours.
1. Vascular Dementia
This kind of dementia is often the result of a stroke, either a massive one or many smaller “silent” strokes that, the majority of the time, the patient doesn’t even notice. Victims of this condition might have a variety of symptoms, depending on the area of the brain that was damaged.
This type of disease is different from Alzheimer’s disease (we’re going to talk a bit later about this one), which often presents with memory loss, vascular brain disorder typically manifests itself first as impaired judgment or difficulty with planning, organization, or decision-making.
Sadly, these are not the only things patients experience. It’s also possible to have symptoms like:
- disturbing memory issues that might have a big impact on the way your loved ones live;
- difficulty in expressing yourself or understanding other people’s words;
- struggle in identifying sounds and sights that were once familiar;
- feeling lost or unsettled;
- temperament and mood changes;
- difficulty moving and a disposition for falling often.
2. Dementia With Lewy Bodies (DLB)
Protein aggregates in your nerve cells are the root cause of Lewy body dementia, a disease that might be responsible for impaired cognitive abilities. This stress stops the brain’s chemical messages from getting where they need to go, which could lead to confusion and memory loss.
It’s common for patients to have problems sleeping and report seeing objects that aren’t actually there when this is the case. In addition to the signs and symptoms we’ve already discussed, they might also feel disoriented, faint, or sleepy during the day.
The effects of Lewy body brain damage are comparable to those of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Many patients, for instance, complained of weak legs, shaky hands, and trouble walking.
Lewy bodies have been seen in the brains of people with both diseases described in the paragraph above, which is an intriguing finding for many scientists who are still studying this health concern.
Lewy body dementia is more likely to happen in people with Parkinson’s who have the following signs and symptoms:
- the masculine gender;
- changed posture;
- altered walking balance and vulnerability;
- hallucinations;
- severe symptoms that refuse to respond to treatment.
3. Parkinson’s Disease
According to several medical sources, many people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease also suffer from mental health issues. It seems that the 1st early indicators to notice are challenges with comprehension and poor decision-making.
A patient with Parkinson’s disease and a mental disorder, for instance, might have trouble recalling even the most basic skills, such as how to read and write. Sadly, things don’t end here, and sometimes they might have severe mental confusion or terrifying hallucinations.
We have already established that the brain damage associated with Parkinson’s disease is progressive, much like that caused by Lewy bodies.
Those who suffer from it are more vulnerable to angry outbursts, and the disease might lead to paranoia and depression. The patient might also have trouble communicating, have bad posture, lose their balance, and move in the wrong way.
This type of dementia occurs in around 50% to 80% of people with Parkinson’s disease, an illness of the neurological system. Scientists say that this problem usually shows up in people with Parkinson’s disease about 10 years after the disease first starts.
4. Alzheimer’s Disease
As scientists say, 60–80% of patients with dementia are also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. More than 5 million people in the United States and more than 40 million people worldwide suffer from this health condition.
Remembering things, as well as experiencing difficulties with planning and doing routine chores, are common signs of Alzheimer’s disease. What’s worst about this health condition is that all these symptoms can gradually increase over time, so there’s a high chance that people you love might experience:
- not knowing the location they’re in or what day or year it is;
- being unable to express themselves verbally or in writing;
- feeling different and having unusual temperament and character;
- being victims of a lack of good judgment;
- misplacing items without any way to trace their previous whereabouts.
5. Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)
If you suffer from Frontotemporal Dementia, also known as simply FTD, this means that your health condition is caused by cell destruction in the parts of the brain that regulate behavior, thought, feeling, language, and motor function.
If that’s your case, you might experience symptoms like:
- drastic changes in character and conduct;
- an unexpected loss of self-control in social settings;
- having trouble finding the correct words to describe things while talking;
- shaky movements;
- difficulty maintaining balance;
- muscular spasms.
6. Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
…Did you know that the root cause of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome might be vitamin B-1 deficiency? Besides that, people who are more likely to be victims of this health condition are those who are chronic alcoholics.
Bleeding in the lower regions of the brain is a symptom of Wernicke’s encephalopathy, commonly known as Wernicke’s sickness. According to research, a deficiency of vitamin B-1, also known as thiamine, is a possible reason for this type of brain dysfunction.
Physical manifestations of this illness include blurred eyesight and shaky muscles. The difficulty of this sickness lies in the fact that Wernicke’s disease, if left untreated for extended periods of time, tends to diminish and leave a way for Korsakoff syndrome to develop.
Basically, this can easily turn into a vicious cycle, which is exactly why this disease needs to be well-monitored by a doctor. Experts say that memory loss in the form of Korsakoff syndrome is a symptom of a more advanced case of Wernicke’s disease.
People with Korsakoff syndrome might have trouble with the following:
- learning new info;
- mental processing;
- memory and remembering things.
There’s good news! Keep reading to discover it!
After many studies, researchers opted to treat these 2 health issues as a single illness despite the fact that they are different from one another. The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome has comparable symptoms to those we’ve just described, but if you caught it early enough, you have the chance to treat it and be healthy.
Even though this illness is characterized by Vitamin B-1 deficiency or inadequate nutrition, alcoholism is by far the most prevalent cause of this condition.
7. Mixed dementia
…Did you know that there is a type of dementia that is actually a mix of the other forms?
When someone is diagnosed with a variety of types of brain damage, it’s commonly known as “mixed dementia.” What many patients don’t know is that this variety is actually pretty common, and the most typical are vascular brain damage and Alzheimer’s disease.
According to different medical studies, roughly 45% of patients diagnosed with mental decay actually suffer from multiple forms of it, but they aren’t aware of it.
Every patient is different and comes with a distinctive medical background, and this mental dysfunction can cause particular symptoms, based on personal particularities.
For example, while some people 1st experience mood swings and behavioral changes, other patients 1st notice that they have trouble with orientation and memory. As time passes, they might also notice that things don’t end there and that they might experience issues speaking and moving their bodies.
…Experts say that mental health is just as important as physical one, so it’s best to always be informed. Do you want to know more about it? Then check out this article: Depression vs. Anxiety: Which One Do You Have?
