Contents:
- Medical Video: Difference Between Alzheimer's and Dementia
- What is the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's?
- Symptoms of Alzheimer's and dementia
- Various other types of dementia
- 1. Vascular dementia
- 2. Lewy bodies dementia (LDB)
- 3. Dementia in Parkinson's disease
- 4. Mixed dementia
- 5. Dementia frontotemporal
- 6. Huntington's disease
- 7. Creutzfeldt-Jakob dementia
- 8. Normal pressure hydrocephalus
- 9. Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
Medical Video: Difference Between Alzheimer's and Dementia
Well Alzheimer's and dementia is a brain disorder whose main symptoms are difficulty remembering things. In Indonesia, both are often referred to by the same term, namely senility. In fact, these two conditions are actually different.
The trigger for a person to get Alzheimer's and dementia is usually age. But keep in mind, both Alzheimer's and dementia are not common things to happen to the elderly because this is a health disorder, aka disease. Although there are many similarities, both have fundamental differences so they cannot be equated.
What is the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's?
Dementia can be interpreted as a set of symptoms that interfere with the cognitive function of the brain to communicate and do various things in daily life. The term dementia usually describes the difficulty of thinking experienced by someone, meaning that there is more than one cognitive disorder that can cause a person to experience dementia. While Alzheimer's is a disease and is one of the reasons a person experiences symptoms of dementia.
Alzheimer's is the cause of 60 to 70 percent of dementia cases. Alzheimer's can also be regarded as one form of specific disease from dementia. Unlike some diseases or disorders of body function due to infection and drug use that cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease is caused by damage or death of brain cells and has not been cured to date.
Alzheimer's is a gradual disease that lasts for a long time. Usually a person begins to be diagnosed at the age of 60 years. However, even young people can experience Alzheimer's disease.
Symptoms of Alzheimer's and dementia
Alzheimer's and dementia have the same symptoms. Both are characterized by impaired brain performance for thinking and remembering, feeling confused constantly, difficulty communicating both oral and written, and experiencing personality changes.
The initial symptoms of dementia are difficulty thinking and making decisions. While people with Alzheimer's are usually characterized by difficulty remembering various things and will experience symptoms of dementia over time.
Various other types of dementia
The type of dementia depends on the cause which is a disorder of the organs due to degenerative diseases. Besides the brain damage that causes Alzheimer's disease, several other types of dementia are:
1. Vascular dementia
It is a cognitive disorder that occurs in stroke patients and is often not realized by someone. Stroke sufferers who have recovered from a stroke, have not suffered paralysis, or have not even been diagnosed with a stroke can experience dementia.
The main cause is blockage of the cerebral arteries and bleeding in the brain. Symptoms of dementia in stroke depend on the part of the brain affected by a stroke.
Symptoms of dementia that appear can be:
- Memory disorders that interfere with daily life
- Difficulty speaking and understanding words
- Difficulty recognizing form and sound
- Confusion
- Mood and personality changes
- Difficulty walking so often falls while walking
2. Lewy bodies dementia (LDB)
Lewy bodies is a term for the buildup of protein buildup alpa-synuclein in the cerebral cortex. This condition will cause changes in the brain and cause a person to experience dementia. Some symptoms that might occur:
- Difficulty sleeping (initial symptoms are generally caused by the condition Lewy bodies)
- Difficulty thinking clearly, making decisions, and concentrating
- Difficulty remembering
- Often hallucinate
- Daydreaming with a blank stare (blank out)
- The difficulty to move, the body vibrates, and tends to be slow in moving
3. Dementia in Parkinson's disease
The cause is damage to brain cells such as LDB, but the buildup of protein alpha-synuclein occurs in an area in the brain called substantia nigra causing damage to the brain nerves that function to produce dopamine. Symptoms of dementia are the same as symptoms of LDB and usually appear after 10 years of experience Parkinson's.
4. Mixed dementia
This condition is caused by several diseases that cause symptoms of dementia. Mixed dementia is usually caused by a buildup of protein in the brain as in the case of LBD and blockage of cerebral blood flow as in vascular dementia. Symptoms caused are in accordance with the disorder that causes dementia.
5. Dementia frontotemporal
The main cause of this type of dementia is cell damage to the front of the brain due to protein buildup and various brain diseases caused by TDP43 protein. The main symptoms of dementia frontotemporal is a behavioral disorder accompanied by symptoms similar to LDB.
6. Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease which is a genetic disorder also causes a person to experience symptoms of dementia that appears at the age of 30-50 years, including:
- Disruption of thinking and remembering
- Interference in planning and organizing things
- Concentration concentrates
7. Creutzfeldt-Jakob dementia
Dementia is a result of brain disorders caused by a prion protein which results in a person's brain turning into an abnormal form. This condition causes symptoms of dementia. Exposure to prion proteins in the brain will cause symptoms of dementia to worsen very quickly. Symptoms include:
- Thinking disorder
- Confusion
- Mood swing
Depression
Muscles move abnormally
Sleep disturbance
Difficulty walking
8. Normal pressure hydrocephalus
This type of dementia is caused by a buildup of fluid in the brain. Symptoms caused include:
- Difficulty walking
- Difficulty thinking and concentrating
- Change in personality and behavior
- Symptoms of dementia will decrease in severity by removing excess fluid in the brain.
9. Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
This disorder is usually experienced by someone who has consumed alcohol for a long time so that the brain experiences a deficiency of vitamin B1. The symptoms caused are only related to memory disorders, while other cognitive abilities can still run normally.
