Alzheimer’s disease is one of the common types of the Dementia. Dementia is a syndrome that describes the brain disorders and makes the person hard to remember, the decline in the decision-making ability, communication ability, losing emotional control, repetitious questioning. On the other hand, Alzheimer’s is a disease which affects thoughts, memory, communication skills, and gets worse with time.
Majorly dementia deals with the memory related problem, like difficulty in finding things you have kept, forgetting someone’s name and face, difficulty in conversation. In the later stage, people are unable to care and understand even about themselves, and their minds keep on changing which sometimes results in depression or aggression. Although symptoms and causes of both the disease may overlap, proper treatment and management it is essential to differentiate them.
Many people get confused and use these words interchangeably, as there is a misbelief that these are the disease where the name and meaning of one are same as that of the other. But it is advisable to talk to the doctor if ones notice symptoms in themselves or their near ones. Starting treatment might be helpful in managing these conditions. With this, this article will focus on both the medical conditions, their symptoms, and causes.
Content: Dementia Vs Alzheimer’s
Comparison Chart
| Basis for Comparison | Dementia | Alzheimers |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | If a person is diagnosed with dementia, means their body is affected by a certain set of symptoms which are related to memory loss, speech problem, decision-making ability. Some forms of dementia are reversible or temporary, and they occur due to vitamin deficiency or drug interaction. | Alzheimer's is a kind of dementia, which result in problems related to the brain, like thinking ability, memory loss, the behaviour of a sufferer, though is not a reversible disease rather it is incurable and degenerative. |
| Symptoms |
|
|
| Causes |
| The causes are same as that of dementia, as the main reason is the death of the brain cells and so known as neurodegenerative disease. The protein name plaques and fibre called as tangles get to build in between the brain cell and nerve cell. Also, people with type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and blood cholesterol may also have the chances to have Alzheimer's. |
| Prevention |
| Till yet there is no proper treatment or drugs are available, which can solve such problems as there is the death of brain cell which cannot be reversed. But it can be prevented if the person changes their lifestyle, by eating healthy food, doing exercise, taking proper sleep, etc. Most important is that the person should give proper care and attention. |
Definition of Dementia
Dementia is one of the types of Alzheimer’s and is not a disease rather it is a syndrome. A syndrome can be defined as a club of symptoms which does not have a definite diagnosis. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 47.5 million people all over the world who have dementia.
Dementia is said as the group of symptoms related to brain disorders and thus resulting in memory loss, control over emotions, in making decisions. People may suffer from more than one type of dementia known as mixed dementia.
Although dementia can be prevented before the onset. But factors like family history, age, and genetics can’t be changed, but other factors, especially change in our lifestyle may give some useful impact; some of them are taking proper diet, exercise, taking proper rest and sleep, challenging the brain.
Types of dementia
- Lewy Body dementia (LBD).
- Frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
- Vascular dementia.
- Parkinsons’s disease dementia.
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob dementia.
- Mixed dementia.
- Huntington’s disease.
Definition of Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s is a chronic disease and so progressively effects. It usually affects the parts of the brain which control memory, speech, cognitive function, control thought and judgmental. Symptoms include impaired speech, impaired thoughts, confusion, aggression, confusion and mood changes. Few screening tests are performed by the doctors to determine the reason or cause of dementia speech test, blood tests, brain scan and brain status evaluations.
However, Alzheimer’s disease is also known as one of the common types of dementia, but not every person who has dementia has the Alzheimer’s disease. It occurs when fibres called tangles or tau and proteins called plaques, get builds in the brain and nerve cells and destroy the nerve cell and block the signalling. There is no cure or medication available yet, and even research is going to know the exact cause.
Alzheimer’s is diagnosed at the later stage of life that is after the age of 60, but it is possible for the younger people also to catch. But it is said that it is not diagnosed with the complete accuracy, so autopsy is done and the brain is examined under the microscope. Other tests include vision, memory, attention, language and observing the images of the brain with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Alzheimer’s progresses in three main stages; first is the preclinical stage (it occurs before any symptoms being recognized); secondly mild cognitive impairment (mild symptoms are noticed); thirdly dementia.
On estimation of the National Institutes of Health, there are more than 5 million people affected by this disease. As said above, there is no proper cure available, but one can manage the symptoms of the Alzheimer’s; like medications for depression, memory loss, behavioural changes, proper diet, intake of fish oil or coconut oil, taking adequate sleep.
Key Differences Between Dementia and Alzheimer’s
Following points will help to differentiate between the Dementia and Alzheimers:
- Dementia is a particular set of symptoms related to memory loss, speech problem, decision-making ability. Some forms of dementia are reversible or temporary; they occur due to vitamin deficiency or drug interaction. Alzheimer’s disease is a kind of dementia resulting in problems related to the brain, like thinking ability, memory loss, the behaviour of a sufferer, though is not a reversible disease instead it is incurable and degenerative.
- Symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s are almost same, as both are problems due to death of brain cells. So, forgetfulness, confusion grow, disability in making the decision, concentration and focus, problem in communication, depression, behavioural changes, apathy, difficulty in speaking, walking, swallowing, visuospatial issues, which means the problem in recognition of face due to eyesight problem.
- Dementia can occur due to damage in brain cells, depression, vascular disease, degenerative disease such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, stroke, use of the Chronic drug, infections, like HIV. In case of Alzheimer, the cause is same as that of dementia, as the main reason is the death of the brain cells. The protein name plaques and fibre called as tangles get to build in between the brain cell and nerve cell. Even people with type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and blood cholesterol may also have the chances to have Alzheimer’s.
- Prevention in both the medical condition can be taken by doing proper exercise, eating fruits and vegetables, the timely visiting doctor for the regular check-up, adequate rest and sleep is also needed. Till yet there is no proper treatment or drugs are available, which can solve such problems as there is the death of brain cell which cannot be reversed. Most important is that the person should be given proper care and attention.
Similarities
Following are the similarities between the two medical conditions:
- Memory loss or impairment.
- Communication impairment.
- Decision-making problem.
- Inability to think.
- Confusion.
Conclusion
From the above content, we get to know the differences between dementia and the Alzheimers; we hope that is will help the readers and the persons dealing with such problems. It is essential to know about them and spread awareness, so to avoid confusion as well the patient and caretaker may get proper information.
Leave a Reply