My father suffers deterioration of his mind

Please permit me a space in your popular weekly health column to get information about dementia, a condition that my father is suffering from at the moment. He is gradually losing his ability to think and process his surrounding and other things happening. Blessing V. Thanks for your question, Blessing and wishing your father improved […]

Please permit me a space in your popular weekly health column to get information about dementia, a condition that my father is suffering from at the moment. He is gradually losing his ability to think and process his surrounding and other things happening.

Blessing V.

Thanks for your question, Blessing and wishing your father improved condition. The word dementia comes from Latin. Dementia is the progressive deterioration in cognitive function and the ability to process thought (intelligence). Progressive means the symptoms will gradually get worse. The deterioration is more than might be expected from normal aging and is due to damage or disease. Damage could be due to a stroke.

Dementia is a set of signs and symptoms

Dementia is a non-specific syndrome in which affected areas of brain function may be affected, such as memory, language, problem solving and attention. Dementia, unlike Alzheimer’s, is not a disease in itself. When dementia appears the higher mental functions of the patient are involved initially. Eventually, in the later stages, the person may not know what day of the week, month or year it is, he may not know where he is, and might not be able to identify the people around him.

What are the symptoms of dementia?

1. 1. Memory loss – the patient may forget his way back home from the shops. He may forget names and places. He may find it hard to remember what happened earlier on during the day.
2. 2. Moodiness – the patient may become more and more moody as parts of the brain that control emotion becomes damaged. Moods may also be affected by fear and anxiety – the patient is frightened about what is happening to him.
3. 3. Communicative difficulties – the affected person finds it harder to talk, read and/or write.
4. 4. As the dementia progresses, the patient’s ability to carry out everyday tasks diminishes and he may not be able to look after himself.

Diseases that cause dementia

1. 1. Alzheimer’s disease – This is by far the most common cause of dementia. The chemistry and structure of the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease changes and his brain cells die prematurely.
2. 2. Stroke (Vascular problems) – this means problems with blood vessels (veins and arteries). Our brain needs a good supply of oxygen-rich blood. If this supply is undermined in any way our brain cells could die – causing symptoms of vascular dementia. Symptoms may appear suddenly, or gradually. A major stroke will cause symptoms to appear suddenly while a series of mini strokes will not.
3. 3. Dementia with Lewy bodies – spherical structures develop inside nerve cells. Brain cells are nerve cells; they form part of our nervous system. These spherical structures in the brain damage brain tissue. The patient’s memory, concentration and ability to speak are affected.
4. 4. Fronto-temporal dementia – this includes Pick’s disease. The front part of the brain is damaged. The patient’s behaviour and personality are affected first, later his memory changes.

There are two main categories of dementia

According to most experts, there are two main categories of dementia – cortical and subcortical dementias.

1. 1. Cortical Dementia – The cerebral cortex is affected. This is the outer layer of the brain. The cerebral cortex is vital for cognitive processes, such as language and memory.
2. 2. Subcortical Dementia – A part of the brain beneath the cortex (deeper inside) becomes affected or damaged. Language and memory are not usually affected. A patient with subcortical dementia will usually experience changes in his personality, his thinking may slow down, and his attention span may be shortened.

What is the treatment for dementia?

In the majority of cases dementia is incurable. Researchers are making inroads into treatments that may slow down dementia’s progress.