• Home
• About Healthy Times
• Advisory Panel Squidoo Lens
• Media Health International Pte Ltd – Disclaimer

Dementia is a progressive decline in cognitive (brain) function that is beyond what’s expected in the normal aging process. One common area of decline is the memory, but it can also affect other mental functions like language, the ability to do tasks one was previously able to do: the ability to recognize familiar objects, sounds, shapes and smells as well as executive functions such as planning and decision making.

Dementia is far more common in the elderly age group, namely those 65 years of age and above. However, it can occur in any stage of adulthood although it’s rare. Dementia has many types, the Alzheimer’s Dementia and Vascular Dementia are the most common while other less common types include Lewy Body Dementia.

A common symptom is progressive memory problem. There may be decline in language or ability to do tasks that he or she was able to do, such as dress or feed one. Decision making and planning may be affected as well. This may include changes in mood and personality, wandering behavior, sleep disturbances, repetitive questioning, agitation as well as delusion and hallucinations.

At this point in time, there is no cure for dementia. However, there is effective treatment that includes medication as well as behavioral management. There are medications to control sleep problems, agitation, mood disturbances as well as delusion and hallucination. There are also new medications that slow down the progression of the disease.

In Singapore (2003), the overall prevalence of dementia in those aged 65 and above was 6%. Consistent with other populations, the study showed that the prevalence rates of dementia increases with age and the prevalence rates of dementia was higher in female as compares to male.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.