An outline of the causes and effects of dementia
Dementia is most well known for causing memory loss in the elderly; however, it actually comes in many forms and includes symptoms other than the short-term memory deficiencies that it is perhaps most commonly associated with. The syndrome affects a large number of people and in the UK alone, 850,000 people have dementia and this number is on course to reach over 1 million within the next 10 years (“Facts on dementia”, 2015). By far the most common and well-known form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which is particularly prevalent in those over the age of 65, nonetheless, dementia can also affect those who are younger and Harvey et al. (2003) estimated around 18,000 people under 65 with dementia in the UK.
Causes
Dementia is the name given to a distinct set of symptoms, focused upon impaired cognition as a direct result of brain (nerve cell) damage, and thus there are many different forms. As a result of this each type has its own individual, albeit sometimes very similar, set of causes that all involve damage to particular areas of the brain.
The majority of those who have dementia do so as result of Alzheimer’s disease, which currently has no known cause despite research showing that certain environmental and genetic factors …show more content…
In addition, it is clear age plays an important role in the development of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. For example, McMurtray et al. (2005) reports, “the large majority of patients with early onset dementia (below the age of 65) do not develop Alzheimer’s disease”, helping to show how the development of different types of dementia have different contributing
Dementia is most well known for causing memory loss in the elderly; however, it actually comes in many forms and includes symptoms other than the short-term memory deficiencies that it is perhaps most commonly associated with. The syndrome affects a large number of people and in the UK alone, 850,000 people have dementia and this number is on course to reach over 1 million within the next 10 years (“Facts on dementia”, 2015). By far the most common and well-known form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which is particularly prevalent in those over the age of 65, nonetheless, dementia can also affect those who are younger and Harvey et al. (2003) estimated around 18,000 people under 65 with dementia in the UK.
Causes
Dementia is the name given to a distinct set of symptoms, focused upon impaired cognition as a direct result of brain (nerve cell) damage, and thus there are many different forms. As a result of this each type has its own individual, albeit sometimes very similar, set of causes that all involve damage to particular areas of the brain.
The majority of those who have dementia do so as result of Alzheimer’s disease, which currently has no known cause despite research showing that certain environmental and genetic factors …show more content…
In addition, it is clear age plays an important role in the development of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. For example, McMurtray et al. (2005) reports, “the large majority of patients with early onset dementia (below the age of 65) do not develop Alzheimer’s disease”, helping to show how the development of different types of dementia have different contributing