What
IS Dementia? In
order to answer this question, I have cited two sources and quoted what they
have to say about dementia. As I am NOT an expert, this is the best way I
know to approach this subject.
1 “Dementia is
not a specific disease. It's an overall term that describes a wide range of
symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other
thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday
activities. Dementia is often
incorrectly referred to as "senility" or "senile dementia,"
which reflects the formerly widespread but incorrect belief that serious mental
decline is a normal part of aging."
2
“Doctors use the word dementia in a
special way. Dementia does not mean
crazy. It has been chosen by the medical
profession as the least offensive and most accurate term to describe this group
of illnesses. Dementia describes a
group of symptoms and is not the name of a disease or diseases that cause the
symptoms. Neurocognitive disorder is a newer term that some clinicians and
researchers use instead of dementia. It has the same meaning as dementia.”
So now that I have shared
a bit of medical terminology and definitions, just what IS dementia? In terms that you
and I can understand?? As I understand
it, dementia is actually the
description of the symptoms - not the disease.
Dementia is actually
describing those symptoms that cause the disease or diseases. Maybe I’ve just repeated what was stated
above; but this is how I understand the term dementia. There are several
types of dementia which I will explore in a later post; these include Alzheimer’s disease, Multi-farct dementia
and Lewy Body dementia, among others.
Check back tomorrow to see what diagnosis we received!
_________________________________________________
1 The Alzheimers' Association, www.alz.org/dementia
2 The
36-Hour Day by Nancy L. Mace, MA, and Peter V. Rabins, MD, MPH, Fifth Edition
There are a large number of people suffering from dementia in my country, and it is now one of the social problems. I hope more and more people will be aware of what it is really like, and knowing the definition of the term is a step in the right direction. Thank you for sharing your post.
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Romi @ Letters from the Land of Cherry Blossoms
Thank you for your comment. I hope this and other information I share will be helpful to you. I keep reading and searching the Internet for information that I can share in addition to the writing that I have done over the years. I will check out your Letters from the Land of Cherry Blossoms...you said "in your country"...where are you from and are you in US or in your country?! Just curious!
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