Support People With Dementia

Question 1

Name (7) types of dementia

Answer 1

Alzheimers Disease
Parkinson's Disease (late stage)
Huntingtons Disease
Frontotemporal Dementia/Picks disease 
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
Vascular Dementia
Korsakoff's Syndrome

Question 2

2 most common dementias?

Answer 2

Alzheimers disease

Vascualr dementia

Question 3

What is Alzheimers Disease ? Causes?

Answer 3

Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by specific changes in the brain that include the formation of:

amyloid plaques (fibrous patches) and neurofibrillary tangles (strands of proteins).

An abnormal build-up of a protein called beta-amyloid causes amyloid plaques to form outside the brain cells.
Inside the brain cells, another protein called tau builds up and causes neurofibrillary tangles.

These protein accumulations disrupt messages within the brain because they damage connections
between brain cells. The brain cells eventually die and brain volume shrinks.

Question 4

What is Parkinson’s Disease?

Answer 4

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive, degenerative neurological condition that affects a person’s
control of their body movements. It is thought to be genetic in a very small percentage of cases.

Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are caused by the progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the
middle area of the brain. This causes a lack of dopamine, a chemical messenger necessary for
smooth, controlled movements. The symptoms appear when about 70 per cent of the dopamine producing cells have stopped working normal

Question 5

What is Huntington’s Disease? Causes?

Answer 5

Huntington’s disease is a neurological (nervous system) condition caused by the inheritance of an
altered gene. The death of brain cells in certain areas of the brain results in a gradual loss of
cognitive (thinking), physical and emotional function. Huntington’s disease is a complex and
severely debilitating disease, for which there is no cure.

Question 6

What is Frontotemporal dementia? (AKA Picks)

Answer 6

There are two lobes of the brain in the front of the brain: the frontal lobe controls behaviour, emotions and language, whilst the temporal lobe controls word processing (amongst many other things). The cause of FLTD is unknown but it is thought that nerve cells in these two lobes die and therefore the lobes shrink and lose function. That is frontotemporal dementia.

Question 7

What is dementia with lewy bodies?

Answer 7

Lewy bodies, named after the doctor who first identified them, are tiny deposits of protein in nerve cells. Researchers don’t have a full understanding of why Lewy bodies appear in the brain, or exactly how
they contribute to dementia. However, their presence is linked to low levels of important chemical messengers (mainly acetylcholine and dopamine) and to a loss of connections between nerve cells. Over
time, there is progressive death of nerve cells and loss of brain tissue.

Question 8

What is vascular dementia?

Answer 8

Vascular dementia is caused by reduced blood supply to the brain due to diseased blood vessels.
If the vascular system within the brain becomes damaged – so that the blood vessels leak or become blocked – then blood cannot reach the brain cells and
they will eventually die. This death of brain cells can cause problems with memory, thinking or reasoning.

There are different types of this dementia: Two of the most common are Multi-infarct dementia and Binswanger’s disease.

Multi-infarct dementia: This is probably the most common form of Vascular dementia. Multi-infarct dementia is caused by several mini strokes, often with symptoms that develop progressively over a period. The strokes cause damage to the cortex of the brain, the area associated with learning, memory and language.

Question 9

What is Korsakoff’s Syndrome?

Answer 9

Korsakoff syndrome is primarily connected to heavy alcohol consumption over a long period of time.
High alcohol consumption is linked to a decrease in thiamine (vitamin B1) and this impacts small
areas deep within the brain, causing short-term memory loss. It is not, specifically, a type of
dementia but it has similar symptoms,such as short-term memory loss.

Question 10

Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 10

• persistent and frequent memory loss, especially of recent events
• vagueness in everyday conversation
• being less able to plan, problem-solve, organise and think logically
• language difficulties such as finding the right word and understanding conversations
• apparent loss of enthusiasm for previously enjoyed activities
• taking longer to do routine tasks
• becoming disoriented, even in well-known places
• inability to process questions and instructions
• deterioration of social skills
• emotional unpredictability
• changes in behaviour, personality and mood.

Question 11

Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease?

Answer 11

• Tremor (shaking)
• Rigidity (muscle stiffness)
• Bradykinesia (slowness of movement)
• Freezing
• Stooped posture
• Shuffling gait
• Micrographia (small handwriting)
• Lethargy.

Question 12

Symptoms of Huntington’s disease?

Answer 12

HD symptoms fall into three types, being physical, cognitive and emotional.
Physical symptoms include:
• Mild twitching of the fingers and toes
• Lack of coordination and a tendency to knock things over
• Walking difficulties
• Dance-like or jerky movements of the arms or legs (chorea)
• Speech and swallowing difficulties.
Cognitive symptoms include:
• Short-term memory loss
• Difficulties in concentrating and making plans.
Emotional symptoms include:
• Depression (around one third of people with Huntington’s disease experience depression)
• Behavioural problems

Question 13

Symptoms of Frontotemporal dementia?

Answer 13

Based on these symptoms and the lobes that are affected, a person may have one of three types of frontotemporal dementia:

• behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia:
lose their inhibitions, • lose interest in people and things, lose sympathy or empathy

• progressive non-fluent aphasia: slow, hesitant speech, errors in grammar, • impaired understanding of complex sentences, but not single words.
• semantic dementia: • asking the meaning of familiar words, trouble finding the right word, • difficulty recognising familiar people or common objects.

Question 14

Symptoms of dementia with lewy bodies?

Answer 14

Problems with attention and alertness are very common. It is a feature
of DLB that these problems vary (fluctuate) widely over the course
of the day, by the hour or even a few minutes. There may also be
difficulties with judging distances and perceiving objects in three
dimensions, and with planning and organising. Some also experience
depression. Day-to-day memory is often affected in people with DLB.

Halluciantions, sleep disorders, problems with movement.

Question 15

Symptoms of vascular dementia?

Answer 15

• difficulty with decision-making, planning and/or problem solving
• trouble concentrating
• problems with following step-by-step procedures, such as making a cup of tea
• mild problems with short-term memory
• difficulty perceiving and conceptualising 3D objects
• somewhat jumbled speech

Question 16

Symptoms of Korsakoff’s syndrome?

Answer 16

In addition to severe short-term memory loss, symptoms include:
• Personality changes
• Inability to realise something is wrong (i.e. Korsakoff is present - thinking everything is as per
usual)
• Trouble developing new skills

Question 17

What is early onset dementia? (AKA young dementia)

Answer 17

Diagnosis of dementia before the age of 65 is referred to as young onset (or early onset).
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of young onset. People living with other forms of
disability, such as Down’s syndrome, can be at a higher risk of young onset dementia.

Causes, symptoms and treatment options remain the same as with dementia of 65+ years.

Question 18

Symptoms of early onset dementia?

Answer 18

The same as those suffering dementia that are over age of 65+ - memory loss, confusion, getting lost, finding the word for something, and more.