For years I have always viewed Alzheimer's Disease the same as Dementia.Come to find out even though they are similar they are not the same.
I have been taking care of my father now for the past couple years, and I'm still learning new things each week.He has had this disease for over 15 years and we as a family had no guide as to how to properly care for him.That is what encouraged me to start a blog on things I have learned so it may help someone else who needs information. Most of the information I come across is medical, but we as caregivers need something on how to cope with different things when taking care of someone with this disease.
So, exactly what is Dementia and Alzheimer's. After using the word Dementia for many weeks to the doctor that visits my father each week, he explained to me that he believed it was Alzheimer's that my father had and which is the leading cause of Dementia. Doctors can't be 100% sure a person has A.D. until a person pass away and a autopsy is done on the brain.
Dementia is not a disease, but symptoms of a condition, while Alzheimer's is the cause of the symptom. Dementia is a collection of symptoms like behavior problems, forgetting how to solve problems,and memory loss, but the most prominent is Alzheimer's.Dementia lets you know that there is something wrong with the brain, but it does not tell you what it is that is causing it.There are many things that can cause this.For example,a person could be taking medicine and having a bad reaction to the medicine which can cause them to have memory loss(symptom), or lose the mind-set to do daily functions that they have been doing for years.We as family members began to think that they are just losing their mind when that may not be the case.If diagnosed properly and in time, a doctor can find out what the symptom that is causing the patient to have this memory loss.If it is determined that it's the medicine that is causing the symptom, it could be reversible if taken off the medication.So, medicine can be a symptom of why a person is acting differently or having memory loss.If taken off the medicine in time a person could go back to functioning their daily activities. But if this continues for a long period of time and the brain is damaged it could be irreversible.
Alzheimer's, on the other hand, is the cause of the symptoms you are having. Cells can clutter and cause (Amyloids)plaques in the brain tissue.A brain will not lose its function with one or two of these (Amyloid) plaques, but if you have a lot of plaques it can cause Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is an actual disease that targets your brain and causes brain damage. The damage to the brain over a period of time causes memory loss, speech problems, and the ability to function everyday activities.Alzheimer's over time spreads throughout the brain which will lead to being disabled all together. There are treatments to slow the rate of the disease, but there is no cure for it.
I have been taking care of my father now for the past couple years, and I'm still learning new things each week.He has had this disease for over 15 years and we as a family had no guide as to how to properly care for him.That is what encouraged me to start a blog on things I have learned so it may help someone else who needs information. Most of the information I come across is medical, but we as caregivers need something on how to cope with different things when taking care of someone with this disease.
So, exactly what is Dementia and Alzheimer's. After using the word Dementia for many weeks to the doctor that visits my father each week, he explained to me that he believed it was Alzheimer's that my father had and which is the leading cause of Dementia. Doctors can't be 100% sure a person has A.D. until a person pass away and a autopsy is done on the brain.
Dementia is not a disease, but symptoms of a condition, while Alzheimer's is the cause of the symptom. Dementia is a collection of symptoms like behavior problems, forgetting how to solve problems,and memory loss, but the most prominent is Alzheimer's.Dementia lets you know that there is something wrong with the brain, but it does not tell you what it is that is causing it.There are many things that can cause this.For example,a person could be taking medicine and having a bad reaction to the medicine which can cause them to have memory loss(symptom), or lose the mind-set to do daily functions that they have been doing for years.We as family members began to think that they are just losing their mind when that may not be the case.If diagnosed properly and in time, a doctor can find out what the symptom that is causing the patient to have this memory loss.If it is determined that it's the medicine that is causing the symptom, it could be reversible if taken off the medication.So, medicine can be a symptom of why a person is acting differently or having memory loss.If taken off the medicine in time a person could go back to functioning their daily activities. But if this continues for a long period of time and the brain is damaged it could be irreversible.
Alzheimer's, on the other hand, is the cause of the symptoms you are having. Cells can clutter and cause (Amyloids)plaques in the brain tissue.A brain will not lose its function with one or two of these (Amyloid) plaques, but if you have a lot of plaques it can cause Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is an actual disease that targets your brain and causes brain damage. The damage to the brain over a period of time causes memory loss, speech problems, and the ability to function everyday activities.Alzheimer's over time spreads throughout the brain which will lead to being disabled all together. There are treatments to slow the rate of the disease, but there is no cure for it.
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