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... Diagnosis
Dementia is a prolonged deterioration of intellectual performance and thinking abilities severe enough to intervene with the ability to carry out activities of daily living. ...
Dementia is diagnosed after a thorough medical history and medical and mental status examinations. ... A physical exam should be completed to reveal conditions that may aggravate the individual’s disability.
Symptoms of dementia include impairment of long-term and short-term memory, abstract thinking, disturbances of higher cortical function, and personality changes. ... The following criteria verifies a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s: dementia established by clinical exam and documented by a formal test, no disturbances of consciousness, and no systemic or brain disorders that may account for progressive deficits in cognition and memory. ...
The occurrence of dementia is increased in individuals with Down’s syndrome. Impairments found in older patients, which may be the result of two other syndromes, and which coexist with dementia, are depression and delirium. Depression is a common accompaniment to dementia and can falsify to be dementia. Delirium, or acute confusion, is more common in patients with underlying dementia.
Another type of dementia is vascular dementia. Cerebrovascular disease can damage brain tissue enough to impair function. Controlling blood pressure, eliminating smoking, and regulating blood sugar can generally slow down the progress of vascular dementia. Vascular dementia tends to progress in steps because of the pathologic process involved. ... Personality and insight tend to be better saved than in Alzheimer’s disease. An intermittent course of clinical progression may help differentiate vascular dementia from Alzheimer’s disease. ...
Dementia may be due to general conditions such as head trauma. ... Dementia may also be related to Parkinson’s disease because of its direct pathophysiological consequence.
Approximate Word count = 1331
Approximate Pages = 5.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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