Dementia :(

Lately, I was watching this Korean show called 'Vitamin' and their topic was about Eye Problem and Dementia. They did some quiz to see if you have one of those symptoms or not and I'm scared to have one. I went to google and searched about this dementia thing and guess what I've found:/

ABOUT DEMENTIA

Dementia may be caused by a number of illnesses that affect the brain. Dementia typically leads to memory loss, inability to do everyday things, difficulty in communication, confusion, frustration, as well as personality and behaviour changes. People with dementia may also develop behavioural and psychological symptoms such as depression, aggression and wandering.

TYPES OF DEMENTIA

There are many different types of dementia and include the following.

• Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. Alzheimer's disease changes the brain's structure, which leads to the death of nerve cells. This disrupts the brain's usual activity. People with Alzheimer's disease also have a shortage of chemicals involved with the transmission of messages within the brain.
• Vascular dementia is another common form of dementia and is triggered by blockages to the blood vessels (vascular system) in the brain. Not enough blood and oxygen reach the nerve cells so they die. Areas of brain tissue that have died in this way are called infarcts, so vascular dementia is also called multi-infarct dementia. It may be easier to think of vascular dementia as a series of strokes that result from other health problems such as high blood pressure.
• Mixed dementia is when you have more than one type of dementia at the same time. A common combination is Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.
• Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a type of dementia caused by Lewy bodies, which are made from an abnormal build-up of a particular protein in the brain.

Dementia can also occur in the final stages of other conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, AIDS and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease.

SYMPTOMS OF DEMENTIA

If you have dementia, you may have some or all of the following symptoms.

• You may have memory loss, particularly of recent events. This may not be severe at first but is likely to become progressively worse.
• You may have problems finding the right words for what you want to say.
• You may feel increasingly disorientated, such as not recognising familiar streets and becoming confused about the time of day. This could cause you to get up in the middle of the night wanting to go out.
• You may have poor judgement, for example dressing inappropriately for the weather or being unaware of dangerous situations.
• You may become withdrawn, prone to fits of temper, or feel anxious and depressed.
• You may have trouble thinking clearly and doing practical tasks that you used to do easily.

Dementia affects everyone differently. Your symptoms may stay the same for some time or if you have vascular dementia, they may occur as a series of episodes with a succession of 'stepwise' deteriorations and occasionally some improvement after a period of getting worse.

CAUSES OF DEMENTIA

The underlying causes of the various illnesses that result in dementia aren't well understood at present. However, they all result in structural and chemical changes in the brain leading to the death of brain tissue.

There are certain conditions that may make you more likely to get dementia. These include the following.

• You're more likely to develop late-onset dementia as you get older.
• You're more likely to develop vascular dementia if you have high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythms or have had a stroke.
• Your risk of dementia may be affected if someone else in your family has it. However, more research is needed to better understand this link.
• People with learning disabilities are at particular risk.

I hope I don't have dementia so I'm going to eat healthy and exercise regularly so my mind wont deteriorate :)