Dementia: Types, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Running head: DEMENTIA
DEMENTIA
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1DEMENTIA
The disease condition of ‘dementia’ implied a collective set of cognitive disorders,
pertaining primarily to the geriatric population, and is characterized by a detrimental loss in
memory, followed by decreased abilities concerning cognition, such as following linguistics and
solving of problems (Dewing & Djik, 2016). The following paragraphs of the essay highlight the
key points pertaining to the disease condition of dementia, followed by emphasis on the various
types as well as associated signs and symptoms. An additional discussion regarding the various
effects implicated upon the brain by the occurrences of various types of dementia, the type of
population inflicted with its prevalence, followed by an availability of the various types of
treatment disorders, are also highlighted in the following essay concerning the key principles of
dementia.
The cognitive disorder of dementia is primarily caused as a secondary effect upon the
primary implications of Alzheimer’s disease, which progressively leads to the deterioration of
functioning principles of the brain, for the daily performance of tasks which require thinking,
reasoning and understanding (King & Dwan, 2017). Dementia can be classified into five types.
One of the most common types of dementia, is related to the Alzheimer’s type, due to the
Alzheimer’s disease being the primary causative effect. This type of dementia is characterized by
the presence of abnormal protein-based structures surrounding the brain, such as beta amyloid
proteins and tau protein structures (Winblad et al., 2016). An additional type of dementia is the
vascular type which is caused due to the distorted of circulatory functions affecting the flow of
blood to the brain, especially, due to the occurrences of strokes or haemhorrages ina major or
several minor portions of the brain (van Charante et al., 2016). Further, dementia characterized
by Lewy bodies form an additional type of dementia, associated mainly with Parkinson’s disease
along with formation of abnormalities in the brain cells, known as Lewy bodies. An additional

2DEMENTIA
type of dementia is the frontotemporal type which is concentrated mainly in the frontal and side
sections of the human brain. Lastly, individuals show casing symptoms pertaining to multiple
types of dementia, are diagnosed with mixed type of dementia (Ejlerskov et al., 2015).
Based on the presence of current prevalence statistics, dementia has primarily been
observed to affect senior citizens in the age group pertaining to beyond sixty five years of age.
However, recent research establishing associations with genetics, highlight the possibility of
inheriting symptoms of dementia at a young age, due to the presence of familial inheritance of
genes. Dementia also affects a minor population consisting of young adults suffering from
cognitive disorders such as cerebral palsy (Langa et al., 2017).
The stages of dementia can be classified into a total of seven stages as highlighted by the
Resiberg Scale, also known as the Global Deterioration Scale for Assessment of Primary
Degenerative Dementia. Stage one or the primary stage is characterized by an absence of
symptoms pertaining to loss in cognition, and hence is labeled as ‘no dementia’ (Coupé et al.,
2015). The second stage of dementia is characterized by the presence of mild levels of forgetting
and memory loss which is considered normal for old aged individuals. Such forgetfulness
involves shortcomings in remembrance of names or novel locations of objects and are not clearly
observed by the surrounding family member of the concerned patient. Third stage of mild
cognitive decline highlights increased loss in memory with additional shortcomings in activities
pertaining to requirement of greater concentration (van Kooten et al., 2015). The fourth or
moderate cognitive decline stage of dementia is characterized by the difficulty of the patient in
the performance of tasks with increasing complexities such as managing calculations, financial
expertise or performance of difficult tasks alone. Heightened memory loss is prevalent in the
fifth stage of moderately severe cognitive decline symptoms of dementia, where the concerned