They have names like frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body or vascular dementia. However, the most common disease is Alzheimer’s dementia. The more than 50 forms of dementia can have different causes, courses of the disease and symptoms – such as persistent complex behavioral disorders or the loss of cognitive abilities. For those affected, this means suffering from memory loss and disorientation, having reduced capacity for judgment or showing reduced performance in logical thinking. Emotional and social skills can also be impaired. The consequences are massive restrictions in everyday life, which not only affect those affected but also the family
environment. There are many reasons for dementia. They can be predisposition, but they can also be related to poor nutrition, years of drug abuse or mental inactivity. Dementia can also be triggered by infectious diseases. However, the greatest risk factor is age. Because women are statistically getting older, they are at a higher risk of developing dementia.
However, it should be borne in mind that there are diseases that simulate dementia – for example depression. Reasons for this include a vitamin B-12 deficiency, thyroid dysfunction or tumors. However, with appropriate diagnosis and adequate treatment, these diseases can be cured.
Because dementia can also occur in combination with other diseases (multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s chorea), an observation phase of at least six months with careful investigations and tests is necessary in order to reliably identify reduced functions and to make a diagnosis. This includes, among other things, laboratory tests, computer tomography and cognitive tests at the general practitioner/specialist or in a memory clinic. With an adapted drug treatment, dementia diseases cannot be cured, but stressful conditions can be alleviated and the course of the disease slowed down. www.pdgr.ch/erwachsenpsychiatrie/demenz
