Dementia is a complex disease and it can have various sources. Mixed Dementia is most common one amongst them. When it occurs, some elements of Alzheimer’s disease and cerebral vascular disease also appear in the patient. Approximately 45% of those suffering from Dementia have this form of mixed Dementia. Finding out the source of Dementia is very important for the senior. Knowing the cause enables proper medications to be prescribed and also enables the family to provide other help that is beneficial to the patient’s health.
Cerebral vascular disease is caused by a life time of hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, some heart disease, etc. By controlling these factors through medicine and diet (ie: good home care) the senior may be able to better maintain their health for longer. The family and the senior may be able to greatly slow the progression of dementia.
Mixed dementia tends to progress more slowly than Alzheimer’s so through good home care there is an opportunity to ensure better health through the monitored intake of prescribed medicines, improved diet, increased oxygen intake as well as movement and exercise where possible.
What are some common symptoms of dementia?
Dementia can be very problematic for both, the patient and their family. Many of these inconveniences are caused by memory loss, which is just one of the symptoms amongst many others. Not all patients will have all of these symptoms.
- Recent memory loss. All of us forget things for a while and then remember them later. People who have dementia often forget things, but they never remember them. They might ask you the same question over and over, each time forgetting that you’ve already given them the answer. They won’t even remember that they already asked the question.
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks. People who have dementia might cook a meal but forget to serve it. They might even forget that they cooked it.
- Problems with language. People who have dementia may forget simple words or use the wrong words. This makes it hard to understand what they want.
- Time and place disorientation. People who have dementia may get lost on their own street. They may forget how they got to a certain place and how to get back home.
- Poor judgment. Even a person who doesn’t have dementia might get distracted. But people who have dementia can forget simple things, like forgetting to put on a coat before going out in cold weather.
- Problems with abstract thinking. Anybody might have trouble balancing a checkbook, but people who have dementia may forget what the numbers are and what has to be done with them.
- Misplacing things. People who have dementia may put things in the wrong places. They might put an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl. Then they can’t find these things later.
- Changes in mood. Everyone is moody at times, but people who have dementia may have fast mood swings, going from calm to tears to anger in a few minutes.
- Personality changes. People who have dementia may have drastic changes in personality. They might become irritable, suspicious or fearful.
- Loss of initiative. People who have dementia may become passive. They might not want to go places or see other people.