Often, dementia and Alzheimer's are misunderstood. Alzheimer's has become the fallback term for dementia symptoms, and many people are confused by the differentiation.
So, what is the difference?
First, dementia is a term, a word, for cognitive decline that impacts our active lives. It ranges in severity, beginning with forgetfulness, and yes, many of us forget where we put our keys, and we forget an appointment, which is very common. However, dementia, cognitive decline, is something much more.
Dementia impacts our mental abilities with thinking, making decisions, and difficulty remembering. Often, there are challenges in problem-solving or understanding the time differentiation. Time differentiation is better explained in understanding concepts of past, present, and future, and often, the person with dementia finds challenges remembering. Additionally, it can impact spatial and visual abilities and depth perception, leading to falls. Lastly, it can cause poor coordination, and often, when we think of older adults as possibly being a bit absent-minded, it could be the beginning of dementia.
With dementia, the severity can range from minimal, and an adult can live many, many years with mild dementia. Dementia is progressive, which means it will continue to worsen over time.
So, now that we have a basic understanding of dementia, let's move on to the causes of dementia and the conditions causing dementia. Many conditions or diseases can cause cognitive decline and dementia. Parkinson's, or vascular events such as strokes, traumatic brain injuries, diabetes, chronic alcoholism or drug use, and finally, 3/4 of dementia cases are caused by Alzheimer's disease. So you can see why most people ultimately just see an older adult that has cognitive impairment and just state, "They have Alzheimer's."
So, let's focus on Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease, and it is progressive currently, we have no cure and can only manage symptoms. Alzheimer's disease is a disorder of the brain that impacts memory and thinking. In short, brain cells degenerate, and neurotransmitters eventually are destroyed, impacting memory, body functions, and mental capacity. Often, adults with Alzheimer's have severe memory loss and confusion, and ultimately, in the latter stages, can impact organs' blood flow, swallowing, and breathing.
Although older adults seem to experience dementia or Alzheimer's, it is not a normative part of the aging process. 80% of older adults do not have dementia and live normative lives.
While many doctors prescribe dementia medication to slow progression, there has been no substantive evaluation showing benefits. However, many studies are showing negative symptoms due to these prescriptions. Often, Alzheimer's adults experience issues with sleep and their circadian rhythm, anxiousness, or behavioral volatility. That is, changes to the behavior that are extreme in these extreme behavioral symptoms can impact caregiving and daily support.
While prescriptive treatments or management are the number one course today with psychotropics, sleep medication, depression antidepressants, or anxiety, it is not the only form to minimize behavioral upset, and many alternate solutions are available. To note, everything we put in our bodies causes a secondary effect they have an impact on positive or negative psychotropics, sleep antidepressants, and anxiety they all have secondary symptoms, and Alzheimer's can further enhance the negative impacts and symptoms.
As most of you know, following me throughout the years, I am all about alternative and natural options for the 1st and 2nd choices and prescription as a third choice. However, we will talk about that in another blog or another session.
So, in short, dementia is a term for cognitive decline or impact that is caused by many conditions and diseases, as we noted, and primarily Alzheimer's is the number one, with vascular dementia, strokes, or heart attacks being the second. I hope this helps add a bit of clarity going forward. Follow me and understand how, as a caregiver, you can support your loved one with dementia or Alzheimer's and how alternative solutions can provide comfort and minimal evasive support.
Thank you for reading!
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