Knowing the Difference Between Dementia and Alzheimer’s
The term “Alzheimer’s” and “dementia” have been around for more than a century but it seems that you can’t open a magazine or website or even turn on you tv these days without hearing them.
Probably the main reason for this heightened interest is due to the baby boomer generation who are reaching the age where they are being affected by the disease as well as increase life-expectancy.
While Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia (accounting for an estimated 60 to 80 percent of cases), there are several other types. The second most common is vascular dementia which is caused by high blood pressure. There are also alcohol related types of dementia, Parkinson’s dementia and frontotemporal dementia which are caused in different ways and then there are certain medical conditions that can cause serious memory issues that closely resemble dementia.
So as you can see just from the small list above, there are many types with totally different causes which obviously means that they would be treated in totally different ways, different drugs, different remedies and different support.
So how do you know the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s?
Dementia
What Is It?
Demential is a nonreversible decline in mental function. The term encompasses several disorders that cause chronic memory loss, personality changes or impaired reasoning. To be diagnosed with dementia the disorder must be severe enough to interfere with your daily life.
How Is It Diagnosed?
A doctor will perform tests and define whether you have two or three cognitive areas in decline. These tests will address disorientation, disorganization, language impairment and memory loss and are administered as mental skill challenges. For instance, the Hopkins verbal learning test is a test where you try and memorize a list of 12 words, you are then asked to recall them. A few similar words are often added to challenge you. Another test gets you to draw lines to connect a series of numbers and letters in a complicated sequence.
Alzheimer’s
What Is It?
Alzheimer’s is a specific disease that slowly and irreversibly destroys memory and thinking skills. Over time Alzheimer’s disease leaves you with the inability to carry out even the simplest tasks.
How Is It Diagnosed?
In fact diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease hasn’t changed for the past few decades and it is pretty much based on a guessing game from the patient’s symptoms. Don’t be too alarmed at the term “guessing game” though this so-called guessing game is accurate between 85 and 90 percent of the time. A PET scan will often increase the diagnosis to up to 95 percent but it is usually only recommended as a way to identify Alzheimers in patients who have atypical symptoms.