Dementia Flashcards
Is dementia a normal part of aging?
No
What age group is commonly affected by dementia?
Over 65’s
What do the frontal lobes do?
Control planning, rational thought and is where info is stored and processed.
What symptoms do you get when the frontal lobes are damaged?
Early on; Personality changes, apathy, lethargy, loss of interest in things they once enjoyed.
Late stages; Mobility can be effected.
Where is the frontal lobe?
The front of the head.
Where is the temporal lobe?
Nears temples
Where is the parietal lobe?
On the top to the sides.
Where is the occipital lobe?
At the back.
What does the temporal lobe do?
Stores knowledge and hearing.
What can damaging the temporal lobe do?
cause memory loss
What does the occipital lobe do?
Deals with visual information.
What does damaging the parietal lobe do?
It can cause problems with skilled movement, peforming gestures (apraxia)
What causes vascular dementia?
Blood has flooded an area of the brain, or no blood is reaching an area of the brain.
What causes Alzheimer’s?
Protein build up in the brain, blocking of pathways.
What are the 4 stages of dementia?
1 - Keeping well, prevention and finding out its dementia
2 - Living well
3 - Living well with increasing help and support
4 - End of life and dying well
What is Dementia?
Dementia is a syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities
Is damage from Dementia reversible?
No
What are the symptoms of dementia?
Deterioration in cognitive functioning, memory, orientation, communication, reasoning and personality changes.
What causes Dementias symptoms?
Degeneration or death of brain cells
What does Scotland have that makes Dementia a bigger problem?
Ageing population
What conditions increase the risk of Vascular dementia?
Cardiovascular conditions such as high blood pressure, Heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
What are some lifestyle choices that can increase risk of vascular dementia?
consuming lots of Saturated fats
Smoking
Being overweight
Sedentary lifestyle
Drinking too much
Name 4 types of Dementia
Alzheimers
Vascular
Korsakoffs
Lewy Body
Frontotemporal/Picks
Parkinsons Dementia
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
AIDs dementia
What is the biggest risk factor for Lewy body Dementia?
Increased age - Over 65/70 year olds are at significantly higher risk
What factors increase risk of Lewy Body Dementia?
Being Male
Parkinsons/other degenerative neurological conditions
Exposure to certain toxins (e.g. pesticides or heavy metals, solvents or neurotoxins)
Sticky body proteins clumping together affect nerve cells causing cell death
What are the 4 stages of Dementia?
1 - Keeping well, prevention and finding out it’s dementia
2 - Living well
3 - Living well with increasing help and support
4 - End of life and dying well
What behaviours would you expect to see in The keeping well/prevention stage of dementia?
Forgetful/poor short term memory
Paranoia
Agitation
Signs/symptoms of depression
Difficulty with everyday tasks.
how does early forgetful behaviour display itself in dementia?
forgetting appointments, birthdays and other important dates
How does early paranoid behaviour display itself in dementia?
Due to short term memory loss they may begin misplacing items and accusing others of moving them.
May have taken their medication, forgotten then blame someone else for stealing them/taking them.
How might Agitation be displayed in early stage dementia?
Links to paranoia as if they think a person is taking their things and they can’t remember that they actually moved it themselves they are likely to be quite irritated
How does depression/being withdrawn display itself in dementia?
Less likely to involve themselves in social interactions possibly due to embarrassment at the fact that they are now frequently forgetful or because friends are avoiding them as their symptoms are difficult to deal with.
How might difficulty with everyday tasks display itself in early stage dementia?
May perform steps in the wrong order or miss some entirely e.g. forgetting to boil the kettle before pouring it in their tea cup or forgetting to turn the oven on/off when cooking.
What behaviours might you see in Living well well stage of dementia?
forgetting family/friends names
disorientation to time and place.
easily lost in unfamiliar environments
Inappropriate behaviour
Repeated questioning
difficulty with communication
neglectful of self (poor personal care)
What behaviours might you see in the living well with increasing help and support stage of dementia?
Difficulty in recognising family and friends
Easily lost in familiar environments
unable to attend to personal care
Incontinence
unable to complete everyday tasks
Language and communication difficulties
What behaviours might you see in the end of life and dying well stage of dementia?
Physical decline
Unable to attend to personal care
Unable to attend to nutritional needs
Unable to attend to continence needs
mobility problems or immobility.
What are the risk factors for Frontotemporal lobe dementia?
Genetic risk factors (GRN gene puts you at high risk)
age - between 40-65
Head trauma - one significant injury to frontal/temporal lobe
repeated concussions and loss of consciousness
