The Many Faces of Dementia

In honor of National Alzheimers and Brain Awareness Month, lets

take a look at another debilitating cognitive affliction dementia.
Heres a breakdown of the dangerous neurocognitive disorder,
according to alz.org:

Physicians often refer to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of

Mental Disorders (DSM) to guide them in determining if an
individual has dementia and, if so, the condition causing dementia.
The latest edition of the manual, DSM-5, classifies dementia as a
neurocognitive disorder.

Dementia may be either a major or a mild neurocognitive disorder.

An individual must have evidence of significant cognitive decline,
and the decline must interfere with independence in everyday
activities (for example, assistance may be needed with complex
activities such as paying bills or managing medications).

Furthermore, an individual must

have evidence of modest
cognitive decline, but the
decline does not interfere with
everyday activities (individuals
can still perform complex
activities such as paying bills or
managing medications, but the
activities require greater mental
effort).
When an individual has these or
other symptoms of dementia, a
physician must conduct tests to
identify the cause.

Different causes of dementia are associated with distinct

symptom patterns and brain abnormalities.
Increasing evidence from long-term observational and autopsy
studies indicates that many people with dementia, especially
those in the older age groups, have brain abnormalities associated
with more than one cause of dementia, otherwise known as mixed
dementia.

In some cases, individuals do not have dementia, but instead have

a condition whose symptoms mimic those of dementia. Common
causes of dementia-like symptoms are depression, delirium, side
effects from medications, thyroid problems, certain vitamin
deficiencies and excessive use of alcohol.
Unlike dementia, these conditions often may be reversed with
treatment. One meta-analysis, a method of analysis in which
results of multiple studies are examined, reported that 9 percent
of people with dementia-like symptoms did not in fact have
dementia, but had other conditions that were potentially
reversible.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN IN THE PREVALENCE

OF ALZHEIMERS DISEASE AND OTHER DEMENTIAS
More women than men have Alzheimers disease and other
dementias. Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimers are
women. Of the 5.1 million people age 65 and older with
Alzheimers in the United States, 3.2 million are women and 1.9
million are men.

There are a number of potential reasons why more women than

men have Alzheimers disease and other dementias. The prevailing
view has been that this discrepancy is due to the fact that women
live longer than men on average, and older age is the greatest risk
factor for Alzheimers.
Many studies of incidence (which indicates risk of developing
disease) have found no significant difference between men and
women in the proportion who develop Alzheimers or other
dementias at any given age.

However, limited new research suggests that risk could be higher

for women, potentially due to biological or genetic variations or
even different life experiences.
Data from the Framingham Study suggests that because men have
a higher rate of death from cardiovascular disease than women in
middle age, men who survive beyond age 65 may have a healthier
cardiovascular risk profile and thus a lower risk for dementia than
women of the same age, though more research is needed to
support this finding.

RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES

Although there are more non-Hispanic whites living with
Alzheimers and other dementias than people of any other racial
or ethnic group in the United States, older African-Americans
and Hispanics are more likely than older whites to have
Alzheimers disease and other dementias.

A review of many studies by an expert panel concluded that older

African-Americans are about twice as likely to have Alzheimers
and other dementias as older whites, and Hispanics are about one
and one-half times as likely to have Alzheimers and other
dementias as older whites.
Variations in health, lifestyle and socioeconomic risk factors across
racial groups likely account for most of the differences in risk of
Alzheimers disease and other dementias by race. Despite some
evidence that the influence of genetic risk factors on Alzheimers
and other dementias may differ by race, genetic factors do not
appear to account for the large prevalence differences among
racial groups.

Instead, health conditions such as cardiovascular disease and

diabetes, which increase risk for Alzheimers disease and other
dementias, are believed to account for these differences as they
are more prevalent in African-American and Hispanic people.

Lower levels of education and other socioeconomic characteristics

in these communities may also increase risk. Based on data for
Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older, Alzheimers disease or
another dementia had been diagnosed in 8 percent of white older
adults, 11 percent of African-Americans and 12 percent of
Hispanics.

For more of our Alzheimers and Brain Awareness Month

coverage, click here. Or, contact our local team to get any
questions you have answered or request dementia care and
support.

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