Dementia can significantly complicate the life of the patient and his immediate surroundings.
Typical symptoms of this type of brain disease are short-term memory impairment, cortical cognitive impairment (e.g. aphasia), difficulties in abstract thinking, and lack of ability to think critically. Patients often not only become awkward in life , but also show changes in character - personality traits are exacerbated, which may result in the patient becoming overly suspicious or impulsive.
What is dementia?
Dementia can have various causes, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or Pick's disease. Symptoms of dementia may also appear as a result of, among others fronto-temporal dementia or vascular dementia.
Dementia is most common in older people - after the age of 65, and this phenomenon is called senile dementia. Numerous studies suggest that this type of dementia can be equated with Alzheimer's disease, i.e. a degenerative brain disease that results in a disorder of the so-called higher mental functions, i.e. memory, speech and abstract thinking.
Treatment of senile dementia
Unfortunately, dementia is incurable because it results in permanent damage to brain structures. However, patients undergo therapy aimed at alleviating symptoms and improving the patient's quality of life.
Drugs that increase acetylcholine levels are used, which for the ability to remember and learn. Pharmacotherapy is supplemented with exercises involving, e.g., solving crosswords, playing board games and reading books.
