Dementia affects old people. It is a broad category of brain diseases that result in a long-term decrease in the ability to think and remember that is great enough to affect a person’s daily activities.
Dementia can be so stressful especially to family members of a person living with it. Dementia causes poor communication and in late stages, agitation by the person diagnosed with dementia. You really need to understand this condition at a deeper level in order to provide the appropriate care to your loved one who has been diagnosed with dementia.
Dementia is classified as a neurocognitive disorder. The commonly known form of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s responsible for about 50% to 70% of all the cases. Other types of dementia include vascular dementia and frontotemporal dementia. More than one type of dementia may exist in a person. In rare cases, dementia runs in families.
Some of the common symptoms of dementia include; difficulties with speech and language, a decrease in motivation, memory distortions, perception, and visual problems; anxiety, tremor, and irritability among many others. For one to be diagnosed with dementia, the person’s mental functioning must have changed drastically within a short period of time than one would compare to aging.
“The most common cause of dementia is Alzheminer’s disease, where 60% to 80% of dementia patients have this disease. However, there are more than 50 other diseases that can cause dementia.” According to Jane Byrne, Project Coordinator at FirstCare.
There is no known cure for dementia. However, Cholinesterase inhibitors such as donepezil are often used and may be beneficial to mild disorder. There are many ways to improve the lives of people living with dementia and their caregivers. Educating and providing emotional support to caregivers is very important too. Here are the top dementia resources that families can utilize to get more information on dementia;
1. Family Caregiver Alliance
This is a nonprofit organization that was founded in the 1970s. It provides education programs, and resources that are designed to help caregivers manage their complex tasks of taking care of people living dementia among other diseases. For example, the FCA CareJourney is an online resource where caregivers can access any information that they require.
2. Alzheimer’s Association Publications
This is an online platform which provides access to materials published by the Alzheimer’s Association. It contains more than 100 brochures, fact sheets, and reports, including a great amount of caregiving information for people living with Alzheimer’s disease. The materials are also freely downloaded.
3. Living with Alzheimer’s
This website provides information to help caregivers adapt to daily routines and changes in persons living with Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, it provides information on financial matters and insurance programs such as Medicare.
4. Alzheimer’s Caregivers
This is a website managed by the National Library of Medicine. It provides links to numerous agencies that have prepared resources on caregiving in the areas of nutrition, coping, finances, genetics, legal information and much more. A Spanish version is also available.
5. Caregiver Self-Assessment Tools by American Medical Association
Caregivers can become emotionally affected if they are not careful. Caregivers are some of the people who need to be given emotional support regularly. This website is operated by the American Medical Association. It provides caregivers with relevant information for ensuring their well-being. This tremendously helps to lower the associated health risks.
These are some of the top dementia sources that can help families to appropriately care for its members living with dementia. Dementia is a condition that can be managed if you have the correct knowledge about the disease.
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