Geriatric Dementia
GERIATRIC DEMENTIA Dementia has an originally meaning of madness “a serious loss of global cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging.” Although dementia has always been somewhat common, it has become even more common among the elderly in recent history. Dementia is one of the most serious disorders affecting the elderly. The prevalence of dementia increases rapidly with age. The prevalence of dementia has been difficult to determine, partly because of differences in definition among different studies, and partly because there is some normal decline in functional ability with age. Dementia is most common in elderly people; it used to be called senility and was considered a normal part of aging. Dementia affects 5–8% of all people between ages 65 and74, and up to 20% of those between 75 and 84 (Crown, 2005). It is not clear if this increased frequency of dementia reflects a greater awareness of the symptoms or if people simply are living longer and thus are more likely to develop dementia in their older age (Ballard, 2005). With the aging of the U.S. population, a better understanding of the presentation and impact of dementia is essential to the future of public health. For future use, I would like to learn some interventions medical professionals have with patients that have dementia, so that as I begin work in the medical field I will be able to help patients but also help my coworkers understand patients with dementia. First, I want to discuss late adulthood, because this is normally when the onset of dementia occurs. It is a myth that dementia is a result of aging. Some of the symptoms that occur with dementia are changes that are supposed to happen with aging, but just not the full extent. The five senses are not as sharp at age 65 as at age 16. It is harder to process information and understand it. Some of the signs and symptoms are
Language change
Problem
Language change
Problem