What is dementia and what are its manifestations?
Dementia is the loss of cognitive, or, as experts say, cognitive abilities, that is, memory, attention, speech, spatial orientation and others.
Previously, this condition was called dementia, and the extreme degree of its manifestation - marasmus, but now these names are not used in medicine.
With dementia, cognitive abilities are permanently impaired, that is, we are not talking about a temporary deterioration in mental state, as, for example, during an acute illness. The diagnosis of dementia is established if memory and other functions are reduced for more than six months.
Some decline in memory for recent events is natural in old age, and this phenomenon is called benign forgetfulness. When impairment reaches the level of dementia, people have difficulty performing everyday tasks that were previously easy.
If normally a person can make his forgetfulness noticeable only to him, then with dementia the changes are visible first to close people, and then to everyone around him.
Where can dementia be cured today in St. Petersburg
Neurologists treat dementia, so you can seek help, for example, at a local clinic. Unfortunately, reviews of dementia treatment in Russia are rather restrained. As a rule, treatment consists of drug suppression of symptoms - at best, and often the patient and his family are left alone with the disease. Psychoneurological clinics designed to help in such situations mostly lack the necessary equipment and qualified personnel. In general, the treatment of diseases associated with old age is not a priority for Russian medicine. Residents of St. Petersburg can receive high-quality care by contacting the Moscow branch of Renaissance, or by choosing treatment in Israel.
Causes of dementia
Dementia is not the name of a specific disease. We are talking about a combination of symptoms (syndrome) that can be caused by various reasons. Only a doctor after an examination can understand which disease led to dementia.
Most often (in 2/3 of cases), dementia in older people develops due to Alzheimer's disease, in which, for reasons that are not entirely clear, nerve cells in the brain steadily die.
The second most common cause of dementia is atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels (deposition of cholesterol plaques in them), and in this case dementia is called vascular.
Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia are incurable. If the diagnosis is correct, do not believe those who promise recovery. There have been no such cases in history, and this fact must be accepted.
Photo from bestichilov.ru
Other causes of dementia are less common, and there are many of them: alcoholism, genetic diseases, traumatic brain injuries, lack of thyroid hormones, increased intracranial pressure and others. In some of these cases, it is possible to address the cause and cure the dementia.
Memory loss and loss of everyday skills are not normal at any age. It is always the result of illness or injury. It is very important to recognize dementia early and see a doctor.
The secret of effective treatment of senile dementia in Israel
Israel has a large elderly population, but the incidence of dementia is below the global average. Life expectancy in Israel is one of the highest in the world. What's the secret?
Researchers believe that a combination of several factors plays a role:
- Nutrition . Israel is a southern sunny country, the traditional cuisine here includes a large number of vegetables, fruits, seafood, i.e. precisely those products that contain large quantities of antioxidants.
- Mobility . As elsewhere, in Israel there are different people, with different habits and different temperaments, but generally speaking, older people here lead an active lifestyle, which is facilitated by developed infrastructure - for example, outdoor exercise equipment is available in every microdistrict, and there are many parks , places for walking, beaches, transport convenient for the elderly, the opportunity to travel.
- Socialization . The traditions of Israeli society are such that older people here are not cut off from the rest of society. They are active not only physically, but also in a social sense.
- Affordable quality healthcare . The Israeli healthcare system is one of the most efficient in the world. Here, an elderly person will never hear from a doctor “well, what do you want, it can’t be cured, it’s age.” People of any age receive the full range of necessary medical care here.
However, people suffer from acquired dementia here too. In this case, they are provided with all possible help - from instructing loved ones to drug therapy with the latest generation drugs. Dementia treatment in Israel using the most effective techniques can be done at the Renaissance rehabilitation center. It is widely known as the Renaissance drug treatment clinic, but it also provides treatment for mental disorders.
How to recognize dementia in its early stages
With different types of dementia, symptoms may vary and appear in different sequences. Typically, dementia in Alzheimer's disease develops gradually, gradually, and often loved ones have difficulty remembering when the patient first showed changes.
Unfortunately, many people with dementia never receive modern medical care because their family considers their condition “normal.” Most often, a doctor is consulted at a time when it is no longer possible to slow down the process and the few medications that can temporarily improve the condition no longer work.
A person is likely to develop dementia if: • they constantly lose important things: keys, documents, etc.; • puts things in completely unusual places; • suspects that lost items are stolen and cannot be dissuaded; • asks the same thing over and over again, forgetting the answer; • finds it difficult to navigate on the street; • makes serious mistakes in things that used to be easy (for example, filling out receipts).
Even one of the listed signs is a reason to consult a neurologist or psychiatrist.
A person who develops dementia often feels weak and suffers from the fact that they cannot do things that were previously easy. He can hide problems and simply refuse difficult tasks, explaining that he doesn’t want to or doesn’t have time.
On the Internet you can find many tests that are used for diagnosis, including to assess your own cognitive abilities. It must be understood that a diagnosis is never made solely on the basis of the patient's performance of tests. The doctor evaluates many indicators, but tests are quite suitable as the “first call” that will force you to see a doctor.
One of the simplest and most reliable is the task of drawing a clock. A person is asked to draw from memory a round dial with all the numbers and hands so that they show a certain time, for example, four hours and thirty minutes.
A healthy person can easily cope with this task. With the development of dementia, errors in this test begin to appear very early: for example, the “mirror” arrangement of numbers, the numbers 13, 14 on the dial, etc. Usually, by this time, problems that can alarm relatives are already noticeable in everyday life. There is no need to wait for them to disappear: the sooner you see a doctor, the more treatment options your loved one will have.
Recommendations for relatives
Everything that happens to your loved one is not his whim. He is not trying to offend you or to spite you. A person is sick, and you need to communicate with him differently than before.
If you have never been known for patience, now you cannot do without it. Patience and kindness are your main allies.
Basic rules to follow in communication:
- Try to speak slowly without suddenly changing your tone of voice. A person suffering from senile dementia is very sensitive to intonation, as he does not remember the meaning of many words. Any increase in voice can provoke crying and hysterics.
- Adapt to it. Ask what he wants: an older person may be indifferent to a new smartphone and yet thank you for a year for a box of sweets that he ate as a child.
- Take the initiative in communication. As the illness worsens, it will be difficult for the sick relative to be the first to start a conversation. He may forget your name or not know how to start a conversation.
- Ask simple, one-word questions. Help your relative, formulate the question in advance so that he can answer: yes, I don’t know, no.
- Don't get annoyed if he doesn't understand you. This will only lead to the patient stopping communicating with you. Construct the phrase differently, using different words.
- Talk about topics close to him. To calm him down, start asking questions about the past, his youth. He remembers this time better than the present.
In addition to these practical tips and recommendations, you can make an appointment on our website with a specialist who provides assistance to relatives of people with dementia.
How behavior changes with dementia
Memory and other cognitive abilities are gradually and naturally lost with any progressive dementia. Moreover, the behavior of two patients with the same diagnosis can be very different.
Some are passive and “don’t cause problems,” others are restless and even aggressive. All people with dementia experience behavioral changes, but the predominant impairments vary. Let's look at the most common and difficult behavioral symptoms of dementia for caregivers.
Gustav Klimt, fragment of the painting “The Three Ages of a Woman.” Photo from rfi.fr
Character changes
With the development of dementia, the character always changes. Already in the early stages of dementia, loved ones sometimes notice that a previously active person has become indifferent and lacking initiative. The patient can sit in front of the TV or look out the window all day without doing anything.
The fact is that certain parts of the brain are responsible for the desire for activity and planning, and with dementia their work is disrupted. It is useless to shame the patient or expect him to “pull himself together” and do something on his own.
With dementia, only healthy loved ones can encourage a person to be active, and they will have to support and control what he will do all the time. For some patients, the activity becomes constant and “stupid”, for example, they take things out of closets, sort through something, tear fabric.
With dementia, a person can become selfish, irritable, and impulsive. Sometimes the patient becomes like a child: he is impatient, his mood changes quickly, and “hysterics” occur.
Great grief is caused to loved ones by the fact that a person who is still alive loses his personality and changes irreversibly, but this is inevitable, because the disease destroys his brain.
Read reviews about dementia treatment
“It’s very difficult when your closest person, your mother, sinks into dementia. This is scary. In Russia they don’t treat this, they don’t even try it. They offered to place her in a psychoneurological clinic, but we refused. Friends recommended an Israeli clinic in Moscow, Renaissance. I really regret that I didn’t know about her earlier! The disease is incurable, but now it’s much easier for both mother and us; the condition has been stabilized.”
M. Shishkovets, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
“My father-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The doctor warned us to prepare for complete dementia, which is incurable. We contacted the Israeli Renaissance clinic, they confirmed that it was incurable, but they said that we should not give up, and the sooner we start treatment, the more we can do. Without wasting any time, we went to Israel. The treatment helped a lot. They gave recommendations for the house and told us how to resist. I really liked the humane attitude. No one is safe from this.”
Anastasia Aksenova, Moscow.
Rave
We often use the word “delirium” in our speech, but, fortunately, few have encountered this mental pathology in their loved ones. Nonsense is not some absurd statement. In terms of content, it can be very close to reality: for example, after a legal battle, a woman develops a delusion that her ex-husband wants to take away her apartment, which was really the basis of his claims.
The point is not whether the ex-husband wants to take away the apartment, but that even if he changes his mind, this will not affect the woman’s thoughts. A person who has become delusional does not need real facts in order to draw conclusions.
So, delirium is a thought that is generated without relying on outside information. Normally, a person draws conclusions based on what he perceives and adjusts his thoughts taking into account what he sees and hears. In a state of delirium, a person, on the contrary, “adjusts” reality to his thought.
It looks like this: the neighbors didn't just trim the bushes, but to watch his windows; his relatives specially take good care of him in order to lull his vigilance and kill him, etc. The thoughts of a delirious person revolve around the same topic, and it is impossible to dissuade him.
Your words do not correct the picture of reality, because the point of nonsense is that it does not need confirmation. In the vast majority of cases, it is treated with special medications called antipsychotics or antipsychotics.
Delusions in dementia have their own characteristics: usually this is the so-called “delusion of harm”, and we are talking about the fact that neighbors or acquaintances are trying to harm (take away an apartment, poison, ruin life in other ways).
This is “nonsense of a small scale,” that is, the plot is tied to one’s own home and does not extend beyond its borders, for example, in a hospital the patient does not make any accusations against the staff, but once at the dacha, he “remembers” that the neighbors move the fence at night, to seize part of his land, and the situation does not change with the change of neighbors.
Sometimes delirium has virtually no effect on behavior: for example, the patient constantly loses things, is sure that the neighbor is stealing them, but, apart from grumbling, does not perform any actions. In other cases, for delusional reasons, patients become aggressive: they kick relatives and caregivers out of the house, write complaints to the police, etc.
Photo from psychcentral.com
Features of people with senile dementia or post-stroke dementia
The main feature of sick people with senile dementia is that they have no control over their own lives, cannot carry out daily routines, run a household without danger to life, communicate adequately with loved ones, or live alone without care. Here are just a few signs of dementia to look out for:
- Impairment of both short-term and long-term memory. An elderly person may not remember what they ate for breakfast or may forget important events from many years ago.
- Disturbance in the sense of space and time. An elderly person “falls out of reality”, wanders in an area familiar from childhood, gets lost in supermarkets, etc.
- A person with dementia becomes unresponsive to new things and declares that “it was better before.” His brain loses the ability to process, analyze and synthesize any information.
- Loss of self-criticism. Such a person cannot be told that he is wrong (sloppy, inadequate, unable to cope) - he believes that they are slandering him. The patient realizes the need for medical intervention only at the initial stage of the disease.
Contrary to the stereotype, senile dementia is not divided by gender, race, IQ level or occupation. Both a factory worker and a doctor of science with numerous credentials can get sick.
Hallucinations
Hallucinations are perceptions without an object. For example, the patient sees non-existent people or animals, talks to them, tries to touch them. In addition to hallucinations, patients with dementia may have illusions (incorrect recognition of a real object) and false memories.
Deprived of a true picture of recent events, their memory is filled with what did not happen: for example, they say that yesterday long-dead acquaintances came to see them. These are not hallucinations, and the treatment tactics in these cases are different, so the doctor needs to tell you in detail how what you consider to be hallucinations manifests itself.
Also, a patient who, at the stage of severe dementia, is frightened by the mirror and swears at it, does not hallucinate. He just doesn't understand that it is his own reflection.
Hallucinations are not only visual, but also auditory, olfactory, tactile and auditory. It depends on which part of the brain is affected.
Most often, the patient is uncritical of hallucinations, that is, he is sure that they really exist. However, sometimes the patient perceives the arguments of others or, based on the properties of the hallucination, understands that the object does not exist.
Find out the cost of dementia treatment in leading clinics
The cost of a course of treatment for dementia depends on many factors that determine the scope of required diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitation measures.
If you want to undergo treatment at the Renaissance Clinic, you must do the following:
- Fill out and send the contact form posted on the site, make sure that the contact information for contacting you is correct.
- Wait for the consultant’s response (no more than 24 hours).
- Describe the problem to him, send copies of the patient’s medical documents by email.
- If necessary, conduct an online consultation with a clinic specialist (free),
After this, a treatment program will be drawn up for the patient, which will reflect all the necessary measures with an indication of their cost. The same steps should be taken if there is a need to undergo drug addiction treatment in Israel, as well as drug addiction or other mental disorders.
On average, dementia treatment at Renaissance in Israel or the Moscow branch of the clinic will cost a price comparable to offers from private clinics in Moscow or St. Petersburg.
Sexual disinhibition
This disorder causes many problems for the patient’s loved ones, but they are often embarrassed to tell even the doctor about it. It is especially difficult to cope with disinhibited behavior in men; it can spread not only to the wife, but also to caregivers, and even daughters, whom the patient may no longer recognize.
This is a natural manifestation of the breakdown of certain areas of the brain that make behavior restrained and conscious. A neurologist or psychiatrist should respond correctly to your story about such disorders and prescribe sedatives that reduce sexual desire.
Help from a psychotherapist
Constant fatigue and apathy can crowd out feelings of love and even sympathy for a sick relative. This leads to feelings of guilt, self-disappointment, mental burnout, and anger.
How to communicate with a person with dementia? How to provide him with the necessary care when you yourself are emotionally exhausted and cannot cope with your emotions?
Your family, your loved ones, the healthy and those who suffer from illness need you. Don't forget to take care of yourself.
Don't wait for negative feelings to lead to depression. Seek help from a specialist who will provide support and explain the reasons for your relative’s actions.
The psychotherapist will teach you the necessary skills that will make it easier to overcome everyday difficulties. You will learn to treat your relative not as a problem, but as a sick person. Stop focusing on how he used to be. You will gain hope and self-confidence that will help you cope with the situation that has arisen.
