Dementia Care Pathway
What is dementia?
Dementia is not a natural process of ageing; however, it usually presents in the elderly due to brain diseases.
Our brain controls and commands everything we do. It helps us think, feel, remember, read, write, speak and perform simple to most complex tasks. The brain has about 86 billion neurons {nerve cells} and they transmit information across the brain and from brain to other parts of the body. When the brain is affected by diseases, the nerve cells get damaged and the brain cannot function normally. As a result, we may lose the ability to think, remember, reason, speak, and perform various tasks. This condition is called Dementia.
Dementia is caused by various diseases of the brain and depending on which part of the brain is majorly affected, different people present with different types of symptoms. People also develop mood, behavior and personality changes. Ultimately people living with dementia lose the ability to perform even the activities of daily living like brushing teeth, bathing, dressing, feeding and need care and support 24/7.
Dementia commonly presents in people aged 65 and above, although the disease process in the brain begins 10 to 15years before the symptoms appear. Young onset type of dementia is seen in people below the age of fifty
Warning signs of dementia?
Usually the memory impairment is the earliest symptom that presents in dementia. As we age we may sometimes forget where we kept the car keys, or why we entered a room but we are soon able to recall, where as in dementia people do not know that they lost their memory.
