Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Mild Cognitive Impairment And Dementia

Mild cognitive impairment also referred to as dementia is a loss of brain function that usually happens with certain diseases. Most types of dementia are non reversible and cannot be stopped or turned back. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease.

Along with Alzheimer’s the other diseases that can cause mild cognitive impairment are Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, Pick’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and certain infections such as HIV and Lyme disease. Usually dementia associated with these diseases is considered non reversible.

Other types of mile cognitive impairment may be reversed if they are found soon enough. The reversibly types usually come from brain tumors, changes in blood sugar, low B12 levels, use of certain medications and chronic alcohol abuse.

Dementia usually occurs in older individuals and is rare in people under 60 years old. The main symptoms of mile cognitive impairment are language problems, memory problems, perception issues, emotional or behavior issues and a decrease in cognitive skills such as calculation, judgment and critical thinking.

The first sign of dementia that is seen from the outside is usually memory loss or forgetfulness. You will find that people suffering from this will start to forget recent events and conversations will have difficulty multi tasking and problem solving and will generally take longer to perform tasks than before.

As your mild cognitive impairment worsens you ill start to see things like forgetting not only current events but also possibly your own life history. People will start to us words incorrectly and withdraw from social contact. Another sign is difficulty reading and writing as well as having delusions and possible violent or self destructive behaviors.

Once severe dementia sets in people can no longer understand language, recognize family members or perform basic activities required for daily living such as eating, dressing and bathing. Other issues a person may experience include incontinence and swallowing problems.

If you start to see these signs in yourself or a family member the best bet is to get them to the doctor right away for a series of tests to determine what is causing the mild cognitive impairment and if it is something that can be helped or reversed. If the person has a reversible kind of dementia the sooner they seek medical treatment the more likely they are to be able to reverse the damage.

There are many types of treatments available for mild cognitive impairment and depending what is causing it and how far along it is your doctor can discuss options with you on the best treatment paths.

No comments:

Post a Comment