Forgetfulness disease dementia; Forget or don't remember, these are the words we say every day at some point or another. No one can be found who has never said these words. Most of the time we go from one room to another and forget why we came, we don't remember where we opened our glasses or maybe we forget the names of many for a while.
These are absolutely normal. But today I will tell you about a disease, where these normal forgetfulness is not normal. It takes the form of a very painful and horrible situation. The disease is called dementia.
What is dementia?
It is a pity that most people are still not familiar with the term dementia. While more than 50 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, 10 million new cases are diagnosed each year.
So, back to the basics. It is not right to call dementia a disease. This is a condition. Dementia is a condition in which a person, directly or indirectly affected, loses memory, thinking ability, speech, and ability to perform daily activities.
In short, it is a condition of the brain that causes the patient to gradually forget everything and become completely paralyzed. Dementia is also called dementia.
How does the brain work?
Before going any further about dementia, it is impossible to say how our brain works in short, because dementia basically destroys the normal functions of the brain.
Our brain works mainly through electrical and chemical signals. This signal is transmitted from one neuron to another. These signals work in different ways to help us remember something, move or do anything, even talk.
In other words, all work goes through these signals. Remember, signals are transmitted through neurons. Why remember, it will be clear after a while.
Types of dementia or causes of forgetfulness
At first I said dementia is not a disease in itself. Dementia is caused by various diseases. So the causes of dementia are different.
The main cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is an abnormal protein buildup in brain cells.
That is, due to the accumulation of insoluble proteins around the brain cells. As a result, the communication of the affected person's neurons is disrupted and the patient's memory, thinking and ability to function are destroyed.
Soon after, another cause is vascular dementia. Vascular dementia is caused by damage to a blood vessel.
As a result, blood or oxygen cannot reach the brain cells and the neurons die due to lack of oxygen. Due to vascular dementia, the patient cannot solve the problem, the work is distracted and even the general thinking of the patient becomes difficult.
Lewy body dementia is another major cause. In this case too, proteins accumulate around the brain cells like balloons in the brain.
This disease causes hallucinations, decreased speed of movement, trembling of hands and feet and many other imbalances.
Frontotemporal dementia:
Frontotemporal dementia directly destroys or breaks down nerve cells. Due to which the language problem starts and at one stage the patient also loses the ability to speak.
In some cases, a single patient may have multiple causes. This condition is called mixed dementia.
Some other diseases can also cause dementia. Such as huntington’s disease, traumatic brain injury, parkinson’s disease, etc.
Who gets dementia?
People over the age of 60 are usually affected. Now, the confusion may be created that memory naturally decreases somewhat with age, but where is the difference in a dementia patient?
In general, many things are often forgotten, but after a while it is remembered and normal activities continue. However, the dementia patient cannot easily remember, even forgetting the incident 3/4 minutes earlier. Even if you can remember it again, you can't continue normal work, abnormality can also be noticed in work.
However, dementia can occur at any age. Also vitamin deficiency, alcoholism, in some cases if someone in the family has this disease can cause dementia. However, heart patients and diabetics are more likely to have dementia.
Signs of dementia
Unusual amnesia
Not finding words while speaking
Repeat the same question
Forgetting your home address or the name of someone you know, forgetting the look
Not being able to solve common problems
Not being able to do any work properly
Loss of ability to think
Creating confusion
Hallucination
Feeling difficult to speak, etc.
These symptoms are usually first noticed by someone very close, such as a wife, son, daughter or parent. Whenever you notice one or more of these symptoms inside yourself or inside the person you love, it is very important to consult a doctor without delay. Because, most of the time these symptoms are considered normal due to age and many people do not take them seriously. Later, when he came to the last stage of the disease, he realized that there was nothing left to do.
Stages of dementia
The condition of the dementia patient gradually worsens. Many times the symptoms appear and much later. These gradual changes can be separated in a few steps.
It is not possible to identify the symptoms in the first stage. If the test is done for any reason, there is a possibility of being caught. This step is also called no impairment step.
The second stage is the very mild decline stage. In this condition, even if the patient shows some slight symptoms, he can do everything on his own.
The next step is called mild decline stage. In this state you will see many more changes inside the person closest to you. Maybe he will forget again and again or make up the story of his childhood or any event in his life. Because some of the memories in his brain start to get lost, he tries to fill them. He may be able to remember it again with the help of someone next to him, but it becomes difficult for him to remember it.
Then begins the moderate decline stage. At this stage, the patient's condition worsens. He also begins to forget what happened a while ago, and it becomes difficult for him to travel or keep track of money.
Moderately severe decline, the patient begins to forget his own phone number, the name of someone he knows. Can't remember the days of the week. Even doing everyday work can be very difficult.
The next stage is the severe decline stage. The patient's condition worsens at this stage. He can't remember the names of the people closest to him, maybe his wife or son or daughter! Problems also begin to speak. Can't eat on their own or find it difficult to read clothes.
The last stage of dementia is very severe decline stage. In this condition, the patient no longer exists. You will see the man next to you exhausted in front of your eyes. In this state, the patient can no longer recognize anyone, can not move, can not eat, completely paralyzed.
As the dementia sufferer suffers, so do the people around him. Once upon a time there was annoyance. It hurts a lot to accept the loss of the person next to you little by little every day. At one point it seems understandable, I wonder why he doesn't leave. The man died of extreme helplessness.
Treatment of dementia
There is no cure for dementia. If you can catch it at the very beginning, maybe there is some hope for recovery. However, most of the time the disease is caught at the very last stage. Then there is nothing to do. Dementia is a condition from which there is no way to come back or to recover completely, once you have to carry it for life.
However, some medicines are tried to suppress it for some time. So it is more important to try to prevent than to cure. Of course, it is not possible to prevent it, all we can do is avoid the risks.
Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly, smoke, stay away from alcohol, eat a healthy diet or follow a healthy diet have a lower risk. Besides, the mind and brain should always be kept at work. Do what you love to do. Reading books, solving complex problems, solving puzzles or word matching play a very useful role in this case. It is important to take enough vitamins every day, and to treat any disease as soon as possible.
It is possible that by following these rules, we can reduce the risk of dementia in ourselves and the people around us.
Last word
Dementia is a serious condition that is affecting more and more people. Scientists are constantly working on how to remedy this. However, our awareness and care for the patient can reduce the risk and help the patient to lead a normal life for a while longer.
