A Common Side-effect of Old Age
Dementia seems to be one of the most common illnesses connected with aging. Scarily enough, researches show that every second person in this world is likely to suffer from dementia at some point in their life. This makes this condition quite serious and urges us to look further into it, to find a cure for it and to know how to prevent it, from ever interfering with our lives. This condition manifests itself through deterioration of basic mental functions like calculating, concentrating, remembering and others. There are many possible causes of this condition and most of these are connected with our lifestyles before we get old. Thus, we need to take good care of our body and mind in order for these factors to serve us as a support when we grow old. Many people consider Alzheimer's and dementia to be the same illness. However, this is not true, even though the first one might trigger the latter.
What Can Cause Dementia?
Some diseases that can bring the onset of dementia are, Lewy body disease, AIDS, Pick's disease, Parkinson's and many others. Apart from these, brain infections or tumors may result in dementia as well. Excess alcohol consumption is also a possible cause, along with vitamin B12 deficiency. Furthermore, one may become demented after surviving a stroke.
Of course, some of these causes are treatable and the dementia can be controlled if diagnosed in its early stage.
Helping People with Dementia
One of the things you might do, if your family member or any person close to you is suffering from this illness, is to place notes around the house, reminding this person of the things which need to be done. Also, crucial phone numbers can be left somewhere near the telephone, being handy in need. In order for this person not to forget to take his/her medications, you might set many different alarms around the house, reminding this individual of his/her treatment. Finally, make sure you check on this person daily, either over the phone or personally and let him/her know about all people who are caring for him/her by giving this person a photo with marked names of these individuals.
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