You are very important for us, therefore MediHelp International provides you the access to critical information for your wellbeing offered by Prof. Dr. Michael Davidson, an expert of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.

Dementia is a disease of old age that affects about 15% of the individuals over the age of 65 and about 40% of the individuals over the age of 80. The initial symptoms of dementia are difficulties to learn new tasks such as operating a new phone, forgetfulness of appointments and recent events, disorientation and poor judgment. As the disease progresses, hallucinations, delusions, insomnia and violent behavior may appear. In the last phases of the disease affected individuals lose control of sphincters, have difficulties walking and swallowing food. Time form diagnosis to death is 5-7 years in average.

The difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is that dementia is the clinical manifestation (what we see when we meet an affected individual) and AD, the most frequent type of dementia, is a particular form of dementia characterized by the deposition of a protein called amyloid on the brain. Other less frequent type of dementias is due to brain infarcts or life-long excessive alcohol drinking.

Individual who has a parent or sibling who got demented at a young age (around 55-65 year of age) are themselves at increased risk for AD. Individuals who have a sibling or parent who got ill at a late age (>75 years old) are not necessarily at the increase risk.

Caring for an AD relative (parent or spouse) is a challenging task. After 2-3 years the individual does not recognize the caregiver anymore and often becomes violent towards the caregiver. Even something as simple as giving undressing in order to take a bath becomes a problem since the individual does not understand the purpose of undressing and of taking the bath and tends to resist it. There are some medication which might reduce violence but the most important factor is the behavior of the caregiver. A non-confrontational, emphatic approach aiming at shifting attention, is the key to pacifying a violent reluctant patient.

Keeping a normal blood pressure, normal body weight, doing physical activity reduces the risk for AD. Also, there exist some medications which reduce the rate of progression of AD but their efficacy is not curative. There are currently large investments by the pharmaceutical industry in an attempt to find a solution for this disease and progress is expected during the current decade.