Types Of Dementia And Their Symptoms

Conditions that lead to a decline in cognition, memory, communication skills, and social behavior, severe enough to disrupt one’s day-to-day functioning, are put under an umbrella called Dementia, including Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that leads to Dementia; however, not all Dementia is Alzheimer’s. Generally, Alzheimer’s involves weakened social skills, cognition impairment, and changes in behavior, but dementia patients exhibit other physiological and cognitive changes such as aggression, inappropriate behavior, and anxiety besides memory loss.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s is the most known form of Dementia. It’s like a time machine that takes you back to the old days. It starts with short-term memory loss, the disease slowly advances, and the cognition starts to deteriorate. The patient keeps repeating things often as they lose track of time and don’t remember what they’ve just said or done. People with Alzheimer’s don’t remember anything of the present, so they keep going back in time and revisiting old memories. 

While the long-term memory remains intact, the short-term memory begins to decline. This is why in most cases, the patients refuse to recognize their partners. For instance, if they are currently 80 years old but their memory is stuck when they were in their 40’s they may outrightly refuse to identify with their spouses. Alzheimer’s patients exhibit trouble reasoning or making simple day-to-day decisions, and they have no sense of time. It is divided into seven stages and begins with simple delusions, and as it progresses, they lose the ability to do other tasks. 

Lewy Body Dementia

It is yet another type of the most commonly occurring Dementia. However, it goes unchecked the majority of the time. LBD dementia patients exhibit symptoms of both Parkinsons’ and Alzheimer’s. One of the beginning signs of LBD is hallucinations besides stiffness or rigidity of the body. Such patients usually hallucinate smaller insects or people; it may not trouble them, though. 

They have trouble sleeping at night; they are generally awake through the night or act as if they just woke up from a dream. LBDs have fluctuating cognition, which implies they have moments of clarity and make sense, but there are times when they act nonsensical and confused. LBDs are extremely sensitive to antipsychotic medicines. However, the same treatment can help people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Vascular Dementia

Vascular dementia is post-stroke dementia which is quite unlike Lewy body dementia. Vascular dementia is associated with brain damage due to cardiovascular ailments or mini-strokes that lead to bleeding or reduced brain activity. Some of the striking signs of vascular dementia are sudden changes in thinking or reasoning right after a stroke, depending upon the part of the brain affected. Difficulty paying attention, analyzing the situation, and organizing thoughts are all symptoms of vascular dementia. In addition, the medication slows down the rate at which the disease may progress and damage the brain further.