Dementia Research Paper

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Dementia is a heart breaking disease that does away with the very essence of who someone is. In year’s past, dementia would have simply been described as senility and was often thought of as simply part of getting older. However, dementia education has come a long way and doctors now understand that dementia is really an overarching term that covers several types of disorders, and that each type presents its own set of symptoms. Types of Dementia: Alzheimer’s Disease: This is the most common and well known type of dementia. Although the specific causes of Alzheimer’s disease isn’t understood, feel it has to do with the build up of neurofibrillar tangles, or twisted fibers, and amyloid plaques, or protein fragments, in the brain. The most…show more content…
It is caused when abnormal proteins appear in the nerve cells, impairing their function. The symptoms associated with Lewy Body Dementia include frequent loss of alertness, hallucination, memory loss and sleep problems. Frontotemporal Dementia: This type of dementia is pretty rare. It is often more associated with emotional and behavioral changes, instead of cognitive impairment. In fact, memory is often in tact with this type of dementia. This type of dementia is caused when the temporal or frontal lobes of the brain shrink or are damaged. The symptoms associated with Frontotemporal Dementia include depression and anxiety, compulsive or repetitive behaviors, lack of empathy, lack of motivation and apathy, decreased inhibition, which often leads to inappropriate behavior. Other Causes: In addition to the conditions above, dementia can be a result of any type of nerve cell or brain damage. Parkinson’s disease, for example will oftentimes cause dementia as the disease progresses. Other diseases, such as alcoholism, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease and Huntington’s disease are all examples of other conditions that can cause cognitive impairment and lead to

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