What Is A Houston Dementia?
Dementia is not a disease, but rather a syndrome. This means that it can have a number of causes. Dementia is classed as a major neurocognitive disorder, and its symptoms can come from infections, disease or injuries. The symptoms of dementia can come from a long list of potential problems including memory failure, difficulty keeping tasks in mind when it is required to divide attention between them, issues with language comprehension or finding words for your own language expression, a reduction in spatial awareness, impaired executive function and difficulty decoding the kind of nonverbal cues that arise in day to day conversation.
Dementia Has Numerous Potential Causes
The symptoms of dementia can come from a number of underlying causes. Some people have cognitive impairment as a result of HIV infection. Some people show signs of dementia because they have Alzheimer’s disease and this affects their short-term memory and comprehension. Frontotemporal dementia can cause difficulty with behavior and speech. Vascular cognitive impairment can occur after a stroke. Brain damage from asphyxiation (e.g. after drowning) can lead to dementia. In each of those cases, the exact symptoms of dementia may be different, but the name for the condition is the same. Injury or disease has a negative impact on the brain cells and as a result of that brain function.
Common causes of dementia are:
- HIV
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Vascular cognitive impairment
- Parkinson’s disease
- Frontotemporal dementia
- Lewy bodies
- Huntington’s disease
- Alzheimer’s disease
Damage To The Brain Cells
Brain damage can show itself differently depending on whether it is localized or diffuse. Toxic or metabolic disorders can lead to damage that is spread out over a large area of the brain. Neurodegenerative disorders on the other hand often start out by causing damage to specific systems in the brain and then later cause damage to a wider area as the condition spreads.
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the more common conditions of that type. Around one-third of those, however, that we currently think have Alzheimer’s disease may actually have a different condition that causes dementia-like symptoms.
Parkinson’s disease can start by attacking the parts of the brain that control muscle movement, but as the condition progresses it can go on to impact cognition and mood.
Infections are more likely to have a widespread effect on the brain.
The cerebrovascular disease causes damage to the brain by breaking down small areas distributed across the brain. There are sometimes more focused or local impacts from cerebrovascular disease, and these tend to happen if a stroke damages an area of the brain that is heavily involved with a specific form of cognitive function. For example, a small stroke that affects the temporal and parietal regions of the brain could impact someone’s ability to speak or to process speech.
A localized head wound might also cause cognitive damage.
To Summarize
Dementia is difficult, if not impossible, to prevent. However, progress is being made in identifying brain-healthy ways to delay damage to the brain cells that are responsible for cognitive processes, potentially delaying Alzheimer’s and cerebrovascular disease. Helmet use, and taking safety precautions to prevent brain injury in sports and in dangerous environments can also help. Paying attention to exercise, diet, disease management, reducing stress and getting enough sleep can also help us to keep our brains healthy and stave off the onset of disease.
Call us or contact Assisting Hands Houston today with any questions you might have! Visit our blog for more exciting articles about senior care in Houston.
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