Like all other organs of the body, some shrinkage in the size and weight of the brain is expected in old age due to atrophy and disappearance of some of the nerve cells. But this is not much ill effect as networking of neurons ensures that other nerve cells take over the functional tasks of the dead cells.
There are many old people who remain alert and perceptive with intellect till their last day. If any elderly in your family has become forgetful, has memory loss or is becoming increasingly dependent, it is not necessarily true that his or her brain has atrophied and nothing can be done. As you read this article you will know, there are condition which may present as brain atrophy but is reversible by treatments.
How dementia manifests?
Slight degrees of forgetfulness, which was not present earlier, are usually first noticed by relatives and friends of the patient. He /she may forget to switch off the lights, fans or TV, may lose his way back home or, tend to forget names of people, familiar to him/her.
As the disease progresses more and more features become noticeable-
• Thinking becomes slow and inflexible.
• Reduced problem-solving ability.
• General decline of interest in life.
• He/she may sit for hours without initiating any worthwhile activity.
• Rapid changes of mood and depression is common.
• His/her behaviour may become rude, tactless and insensitive to the feelings of others.
• He/she may become incapable of responding normally to emotionally charged events like birth, death or marriage in the family.
Cause of dementia:
It is due to the generalized shrinkage of the brain
• Senile dementia:Most of these cases occur in very old age, i.e. after the age of eighty or ninety.
• Alzheimer's disease: Sometimes an identical process of atrophy starts early and symptoms appear when the person is still in his fifties or sixties.
As mentioned previously in this article dementia is not only the result of brain atrophy. It may be caused by other reversible or partially reversible factors, hence treatable. This condition is known as pseudo dementia.
The causes of pseudodementia are:
• Toxic effects of drugs, particularly tranquillizers, sleep inducers, certain anti-hypertensive drugs, etc.
• Under-activity of the thyroid gland (myxoedema).
• Infections of the brain with syphilis or HIV (virus causing AIDS).
• Brain tumours.
All these factors are treatable.
How dementia can be prevented?
Continual exercising of the brain:
Several studies have indicated that education and continued use of the brain protects against mental degeneration and Alzheimer's disease. This protection is provided by two mechanisms.
• Activation of nerve cells seems to lead to the maintenance of the cells during ageing by stimulating the action of protective mechanisms such as DNA repair.
• Mental activity improves the networking of neurons through dendritic growth and connection formations.
• Improving Reserve Capacity of the Brain
• Simple training can reduce memory problems of the aged.
• Even without explicit training, old people can increase their cognitive performance by simply using their brains more actively by solving crossword puzzles, playing chess, solving problems for others, reading, writing, engaging in discussions and other stimulating mental activities.
Keep active interest in life, family and community.
Balanced diet with lots of fruits and greens, nutritional supplement, particularly folic acid is shown to be helpful in preventing dementia.
No specific medicines are there to treat true dementia but all effort must be given to find out any treatable cause. Don’t delay to show the patient to a neurologist.
This article is republished at India Study Channel
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