Dementia symptoms must be recognized by any individual given that the soonest the symptoms are identified and the right treatment is administered, the better chances of improving the patient’s conditions. Contrary to common belief, dementia is not a specific mental disorder but it is rather a term used to describe symptoms that affect the intellectual and social abilities of the individuals. Usually, these symptoms interfere greatly with the daily functioning of the patient. Read more about senile dementia signs, the different type of this condition and what is dementia treatment.

The different types of dementia are identified based on what is causing them. However, the most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. In the specialty literature, dementia is classified in five categories: cortical, subcortical, progressive, primary and secondary. Cortical dementia is caused by an abnormality occurring within the brain cortex. Commonly, patients suffering from this form of dementia will experience memory loss or memory-related problems, speech and thinking problems as well as a problematic social behavior. Subcortical dementia usually affects the part of the brain that is situated below the cortex, resulting in senile dementia signs connected to the patient’s emotions and movement apart from the memory loss. Progressive dementia is how its name suggests, a type of dementia that evolves gradually and affects more cognitive abilities. On the other hand, primary dementia is a form of dementia that is not caused by an underlying condition such as Alzheimer’s disease and secondary dementia is caused by a physical disease or trauma. Therefore, dementia symptoms may greatly vary upon the specific type of the condition.

However, even though the signs and symptoms of this disorder may vary with its different forms, patients commonly experience memory loss or memory-related problems, inability to communicate, inability to learn or use the information that has been recently learned, inability to reason, changes in personality, agitation, paranoia and hallucinations. Yet, these are some of senile dementia signs and they can include more symptoms. Vascular dementia is one of the dementia forms whose onset is gradual especially in the early vascular dementia stages. The later vascular dementia stages are a very serious condition as patients may become a danger for themselves. As with the vascular dementia stages, mostly all dementia forms are classified on stages, from the least serious to the most severe.

Dementia is sometimes considered a delusional disorder as most patients experience delusional behavior. Being delusional basically means that one’s ability to perceive the reality and the real world is impaired. Therefore, delusional individuals may feel like they are in danger to be harmed by something or someone and this type of behavior is common in patients suffering from dementia.

Dementia treatment is available and it is aimed to help the patient cope with the symptoms. Commonly, patients are prescribed medication therapy consisting of cholinesterase inhibitors (donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine hydrobromide), metamine and other medications. However, there is no standard treatment for this disorder.

In the end, it is mandatory to be able to recognize the dementia symptoms because the sooner the disease is identified and treatment prescribed the better chances of success.