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Dementia in The Elderly

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Dementia in The Elderly
Dealing with Dementia in the Elderly
Danaya Gilchrist
Touro College of Applied Studies

General Survey of Mental Health (GHU 140)
Professor Wyatt
April 29th, 2014

Abstract Dementia is a scary disease for the elderly to deal with it. It changes their lives and who they are. Dementia affects the daily living activities of people who are dealing with it; a person who is living with dementia can no longer do anything for themselves or live their lives the way that they want to. Family members and caregivers can help a person with dementia live their lives 100 times better than if they were living alone or in an institution isolated from the rest of the world. There are ways to help a person with dementia feel slightly good about themselves and not stressed all the time.

Introduction

More than 50% of the elderly starting at the age 71-years-old lives has been affected by dementia. There are different stages of dementia. Dementia isn’t a disease that can be cured and definitely isn’t a disease that a person becomes comfortable living with. Dementia effects daily living functioning and can be very stressful on the person who has it and definitely the person’s family. It takes over the person with dementia life and the people around them. Dementia is a condition that changes a person life in a bad way but there are ways to deal with it and make things a bit easier on the individual living with the disease. History: Dr.Alois Alzheimer discovered dementia’s Alzheimer disease back in 1906. A woman named Auguste Deter was a patient of his who was affected by Alzheimer disease. She couldn’t remember her husband’s name, the name of objects, her age and even where she was. Dr. Alzheimer studied this woman’s condition for a while even after her death. He presented his thoughts and her case to other Doctors and they slowly began to see that this condition was becoming slightly common in other people. Emil Krapelin was Alzheimer’s Boss at the

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