The Role of Exercise in Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Aged Individuals with Dementia

Dementia and aging
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Introduction
• Dementia is a general term
that refers to a decline in the
mental ability that is severe
enough to interfere with daily
life of older people (Shah et
al., 2016).
• It is an umbrella term that
describes group of symptoms
related to memory loss.
• It occurs due to physical
changes in the brain.

Epidemiology
• On a global scale, dementia was found to
affect more than 46 million people in the year
2015 (Vos et al., 2016).
• According to research evidences, number of
people suffering from dementia and
Alzhiemer’s disease will reach double of
1,125,184 in next three decades (Jacklin,
Walker & Shawande, 2013).
• It accounted for approximately 1.7 million
death in 2013, compared to 0.8 million people
in 1990s (Abubakar et al., 2013).

Symptoms of dementia in aged population
• Poor memory
• Communication difficulties
• Impairment of judgment and
reasoning
• Visual impairment
• Postural difficulties (Kales, Gitlin
& Lyketsos, 2015)
• Mood swings
• Personality changes
Impaired posture leads to
movement at a slow and steady
pace. This results in poor balance
coordination.