Yesterday I attended a seminar on dementia at Richmond Hill Community Church. The speaker is a lady from Yee Hong Geriatric Centre. The people attending this seminar are boomers and seniors who are having the common problem of forgetfulness. Of course, it also includes me.
In our daily life being forgetful is very common. For instance, people may forget where they put their keys or glasses. Most likely, if you are a driver, you may forget where you have parked the car in the parking lot. There are at times some mental blocks affecting people's proper thinking or memorizing. The example used in the seminar was a housewife who was supposed to cook some rice for her dinner. She set up the rice cooker but forgot to put rice and water in the cookware Then as she took the rice container out to get some rice, the phone rang and she answered the phone call. She was holding rice container as she talked energetically over the phone. She forgot the rice until her huband reminded her. Are these the symptoms of dementia?
In the seminar, short videos were showed. Through it we have advices from geriatric doctors, language therapist, pharmacist and social workers. According to the geriactric doctors, dementia is not and cannot be determined by one symptom such as forgetfulness. It should be determined on a wide range of tests and examination. However, we should watch out for the syndromes of dementia. To illustrate this point, let say, in the above example the housewife 's forgetfulness alone cannot determine she has dementia. If she has other problems, such as she cannot do the cooking properly which she was good at and has been doing well in the past 20 plus years. Then, this is a serious warning. Or if she put things in wrong place, For example, put the iron into the fridge. It is a huge warning. Or if she keeps on buying the same stuff without knowing that there is already more than enough.
Another example was cited. A math teacher was asked to do a simple math test by the family doctor, say, 100 minus 7. This is a piece of cake for the math teacher. If the math teacher cannot do it correct, there is a problem that is assciated with dementia.
Usually, people with dementia would lose their ability, even a simple task of taking care of themselves. For severe dementia, the affected patient cannot do basic tasks such as bathing, change clothes, teeth brushing, put of the shoes, the list can go on and on.
Early Warning Signs of Dementia
Prevention of dementia
It appears that the regular moderate consumption of alcohol (beer, wine, or distilled spirits) and a Mediterranean diet may reduce risk. A study has shown a link between high blood pressure and developing dementia. The study, published in the Lancet Neurology journal July 2008, found that blood pressure lowering medication reduced dementia by 13%.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression is associated with some dementia types.
A Canadian study found that a lifetime of bilingualism delays the onset of dementia by an average of four years when compared to monolingual patients.
Early detection and treatment of this disease is important. Remember to check with your family doctor whenever you are in doubt for yourself and people you love.
Related article:
Seven Second Memory
In our daily life being forgetful is very common. For instance, people may forget where they put their keys or glasses. Most likely, if you are a driver, you may forget where you have parked the car in the parking lot. There are at times some mental blocks affecting people's proper thinking or memorizing. The example used in the seminar was a housewife who was supposed to cook some rice for her dinner. She set up the rice cooker but forgot to put rice and water in the cookware Then as she took the rice container out to get some rice, the phone rang and she answered the phone call. She was holding rice container as she talked energetically over the phone. She forgot the rice until her huband reminded her. Are these the symptoms of dementia?
In the seminar, short videos were showed. Through it we have advices from geriatric doctors, language therapist, pharmacist and social workers. According to the geriactric doctors, dementia is not and cannot be determined by one symptom such as forgetfulness. It should be determined on a wide range of tests and examination. However, we should watch out for the syndromes of dementia. To illustrate this point, let say, in the above example the housewife 's forgetfulness alone cannot determine she has dementia. If she has other problems, such as she cannot do the cooking properly which she was good at and has been doing well in the past 20 plus years. Then, this is a serious warning. Or if she put things in wrong place, For example, put the iron into the fridge. It is a huge warning. Or if she keeps on buying the same stuff without knowing that there is already more than enough.
Another example was cited. A math teacher was asked to do a simple math test by the family doctor, say, 100 minus 7. This is a piece of cake for the math teacher. If the math teacher cannot do it correct, there is a problem that is assciated with dementia.
Usually, people with dementia would lose their ability, even a simple task of taking care of themselves. For severe dementia, the affected patient cannot do basic tasks such as bathing, change clothes, teeth brushing, put of the shoes, the list can go on and on.
Early Warning Signs of Dementia
Prevention of dementia
It appears that the regular moderate consumption of alcohol (beer, wine, or distilled spirits) and a Mediterranean diet may reduce risk. A study has shown a link between high blood pressure and developing dementia. The study, published in the Lancet Neurology journal July 2008, found that blood pressure lowering medication reduced dementia by 13%.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression is associated with some dementia types.
A Canadian study found that a lifetime of bilingualism delays the onset of dementia by an average of four years when compared to monolingual patients.
Early detection and treatment of this disease is important. Remember to check with your family doctor whenever you are in doubt for yourself and people you love.
Related article:
Seven Second Memory
Whereas I will not always agree with the feedback previously mentioned, at least that individual does indeed confirm a position. We have a tendency to get stuck up in the specifics and lose perception of the more prominent picture.