| Aging has its associated problems and not all of them | | | | * Medical conditions like liver failure, renal failure, hepatic |
| are related to our mortality index. It can also cause | | | | disorders, pancreatic problems, etc. can catalyze |
| disorders that may badly affect an apparently | | | | chances of short-term dementia. Hormonal imbalances |
| carefree lifestyle. For example, simply because the | | | | due to hyperglycemia or hypercalcemia may also be |
| body organs don't function as smoothly as before, one | | | | strong activators. |
| may start suffering from irritating ailments like hearing | | | | * A lot of times, blurriness of vision or inability to hear is |
| or vision impairment and inability to remember names | | | | confused with dementia. One should therefore check |
| and locations. Until the time that this forgetfulness has | | | | for these abnormalities before coming to the |
| mild consequences, it can only be a recurring irritant at | | | | conclusion that they suffer from dementia. |
| worse. But if the symptoms aggravate and | | | | * Nutritional deficiencies, especially that of niacin, folate, |
| progresses to hinder the very rhythm of day-to-day | | | | riboflavin, and thiamine results in the deterioration of the |
| life, it is then that one develops a cause for concern. | | | | cognitive faculty. Discreet symptoms are loss of smell |
| SYMPTOMS: memory loss dementia, the condition of | | | | and loss of taste, forceful swallowing, difficulty in |
| severe forgetfulness, is caused by a steady decline of | | | | chewing and digesting food. |
| the cerebral faculty among the aged. The patient | | | | * Other miscellaneous causes for short-term memory |
| faces difficulty in remembering simple mundane words; | | | | loss dementia include tumors, infections and |
| and completing a series of tasks at once require a | | | | arthrosclerosis, a condition of the hardening of arteries. |
| colossal amount of focus and effort. As a result, the | | | | 2. LONG TERM DEMENTIA: this is an irreversible |
| victim may slip into a confused paranoia, depression or | | | | version of memory loss dementia. |
| worse, chronic aggression. | | | | CAUSES: |
| Memory loss dementia among the aged are generally | | | | * Cerebral traumas |
| of two types: | | | | * Fallouts of degenerative ailments like Parkinson's |
| 1. SHORT TERM DEMENTIA: this is reversible and | | | | disease or Alzheimer's disease |
| treatable. | | | | * Huntington's chorea. |
| Causes: the causes for this condition are so varied | | | | PRECAUTIONS: A detailed neuro physiological testing |
| and numerous, that the National Institute On Aging has | | | | session including CAT and MRI scans need to be |
| listed 100 of the most frequent ones. Here, however | | | | conducted to diagnose the disorder. |
| we have provided only a handful of them. They are---- | | | | PET scans and SPECT scans are also very effective |
| * Side effects to certain anti-arthritic medications, | | | | in treating this malady. |
| anihypertensizes, neuroleptics, hypnotics, and sedatives | | | | Medical care however is not enough in treating chronic |
| can cause conditions similar to memory loss dementia. | | | | dementia. Along with medicines, Behavior Management |
| * Abrupt lifestyle changes like retirement, divorce, | | | | therapies, safety precautions at home and legal |
| death of a pet, etc. can cause immense anxiety and | | | | consultations of the durable power of an attorney, also |
| emotional upheaval among the aged. These conditions | | | | forms the backbone of the convalescing process. |
| can then evolve into short-term dementia. | | | | |