Understanding Dementia and Alzheimer’s: A Guide for Seniors

What Is Most Common Types of Dementia?

What Is Alzheimer’s disease?

is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 60% to 80% of cases. Symptoms include problems with short-term memory, paying bills, preparing meals, remembering appointments, or getting lost in familiar areas. Many factors play a role, including genetics, behaviors, and habits.

What Is Vascular dementia?

is the second most common type, accounting for about 5% to 10% of cases. It results from strokes or other problems with blood flow to the brain. Conditions that damage blood vessels, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, increase the risk.

What Is Lewy body dementia?

can cause problems with thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. It may cause memory loss, movement or balance issues such as stiffness or trembling, daytime sleepiness, confusion, sleep disturbances, or visual hallucinations.

What Is Frontotemporal dementia?

affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain and often leads to changes in personality and behavior. About one-third of all cases are inherited through genes.

What Is Mixed dementia?

occurs when more than one type of dementia affects the brain at the same time, such as Alzheimer’s disease combined with vascular dementia.

What Is Dementia vs. Normal Aging?

Normal aging may include weakening muscles and bones, stiffening arteries, and some age-related memory changes. Normal memory changes include occasionally forgetting where you put your car keys, struggling to find a word but remembering it later, forgetting the name of an acquaintance, or forgetting recent events. These subtle changes can be frustrating, but they should not affect your daily life. With normal aging, your overall memory, thought, and brain functions stay intact, including the knowledge and experiences you gained over years, old memories, and language.

What Is Warning Signs to Look For?

People with dementia have problems with one or more of these areas: memory, attention, communication, reasoning, judgment, and problem solving, and vision problems such as depth perception or recognizing objects. Signs that may point to dementia include:

• Getting lost in a familiar neighborhood.
• Using unusual words to refer to familiar objects.
• Forgetting the name of a close family member or friend.
• Forgetting old memories.
• Not being able to complete common tasks on your own.

What Are Testing and Diagnosis?

If you think you or a loved one may have dementia, talk to a health care provider. Some memory problems may be caused by treatable conditions that can be reversed when the underlying condition is treated. The sooner dementia is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can begin to slow its progression. Assessment may include a medical history, physical exam and diagnostic tests, neurological exam, depression screening, blood tests, and brain scans such as CT or MRI.

What Are Treatment Options?

The type of treatment depends on the underlying cause. Prescription drugs can temporarily ease some symptoms, and most work best for people in the early or middle stages of dementia. Other prescription drugs can slow the progression of the disease. Early diagnosis also allows you and your family to consider treatment options, financial planning, advance directives, clinical trials, and anticipating care needs.

What Is Reducing Your Risk?

Nearly 45% of all dementia cases may be prevented or delayed by making healthy lifestyle changes. These changes can also lower your risk of other chronic diseases. Steps include being physically active, controlling your blood pressure, staying socially engaged, and managing conditions such as diabetes and high cholesterol.

What Are Frequently Asked Questions?

A: No. While some memory changes are normal, dementia is not. Many older adults live their entire lives without developing dementia.

A: Dementia is an overall term for a decline in mental ability. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 60% to 80% of cases.

A: Nearly 45% of dementia cases may be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes, including physical activity and blood pressure control.

A: See your health care provider if you notice any signs of dementia, such as getting lost in familiar places or being unable to complete everyday tasks. Early diagnosis helps with treatment and planning.

What Are Key Takeaways?

• Dementia is a decline in mental ability, not a normal part of aging.
• Alzheimer’s is the most common type, affecting 6.7 million older Americans.
• Warning signs include getting lost, forgetting familiar names, and trouble completing daily tasks.
• Some memory problems have treatable causes, so see a doctor early.
• Nearly 45% of cases may be delayed with healthy lifestyle changes.