Dementia – Page 4 – Wonderwall

Lent Prompt 4: Dementia in 30-65 year olds

Dementia is often thought of as a condition of the older population however, it can affect 30-65years olds (around 5% of people in the UK diagnosed with dementia are 30-65). Amongst under 65s with dementia it is more common in those with an existing learning disability.

Lent Prompt 5: Dementia Incidence and symptoms

There are 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, with numbers set to rise to over 1 million by 2025. This will soar to 2 million by 2051.

Symptoms

Memory loss
Difficulty concentrating and planning for example following recipes.
Communication problems such as struggling to find right words and difficulty interpreted what is being said.
Confusion regarding times and places.
Visual and spatial awareness causing problems like feeling unsteady walking and difficulties parking.
Mood changes like being emotional, apathy (loss of interest) and lowered self confidence.

Lent prompt 3: Footballer’s heading balls and dementia

Research is continuing into possible link between heading footballs and later developing dementia. In 2017 Alan Shearer hosted an interesting documentary on the subject called Dementia, Football and me; worth a watch if you are able to.

https://amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/nov/13/alan-shearer-dementia-football-me-review-hits-back-of-net

Lent prompt 1: What is Dementia?

Dementia describes different brain disorders that trigger a loss of brain function. These conditions are all usually progressive.

Symptoms of dementia include memory loss, confusion and problems with speech and understanding. Dementia is a terminal condition.

Dementia itself is not a disease – it’s actually caused by lots of different diseases. The word ‘dementia’ is just an umbrella term for the symptoms caused by these diseases such as memory loss, confusion and personality change.

There are 100s of types of dementia including:

Vascular dementia

Dementia with Lewy bodies

Alzheimer’s