Dementia Research Paper

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The chosen mental disorder is Dementia. Reading and learning about this disorder has helps me to understand some of the symptoms and problems patients and their family members go through when faced with this challenging and progressive disease. It will also help me in the future when working with individuals with various types of dementia. Dementia is not a specific disease. It is a general term describing the decline in mental ability that is severe enough to interfere with someone daily life. Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia. It accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. The second most common dementia is vascular dementia. It occurs after a person had a stroke. There are other conditions that could cause symptoms of …show more content…

Each type of dementia have their own symptoms and cause. I will elaborate on the symptoms and causes for Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. Alzheimer’s is considered as a slowly progressive brain disease that begins well before symptoms emerges. The cause of Alzheimer is the “brain changes that occur where abnormal deposits of the protein fragment (plaques) and twisted strands of the protein which leads to damage nerve cell and death of different cells within the brain” (Alzheimer's and Dementia, n.d.). The symptoms for Alzheimer’s are difficulty of remembering recent conversations, names or events, apathy and depression are often early symptoms. Late symptoms are impaired communication, trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships, poor judgment, disorientation, confusion, and behavior / personality changes, difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure, challenges in planning or solving problems, withdrawal from work or social activities, and difficulty speaking, swallowing and …show more content…

Occurs from blood vessel blockage or damage leading to infarcts (strokes) or bleeding in the brain. The location, number and size of the brain injury determines how the individual's thinking and physical functioning are affected. Vascular dementia symptoms are most obvious when they happen right after a major stroke. Patients with post-stroke changes in thinking and perception may include the following: confusion, disorientation, trouble speaking and / or understanding speech, and vision loss. These changes may happen at the same time as more familiar physical stroke symptoms, such as a sudden headache, difficulty walking, or numbness or paralysis on one side of the face or the body. Multiple small strokes or other conditions that “affect blood vessels and nerve fibers deep inside the brain may cause more gradual thinking changes as damage accumulates” (Alzheimer's and Dementia, n.d.). Common early signs of widespread small vessel disease include impaired planning and judgment; uncontrolled laughing and crying; declining ability to pay attention; impaired function in social situations; and difficulty finding the right

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