Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

15 common misconceptions and surprising realities about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease<!-- wp:html --><p>Dementia currently affects about 50 million people in the world.</p> <p class="copyright">De Visu/Shutterstock</p> <p>There are about 50 million people in the world living with dementia.<br /> It's the umbrella term given to the symptoms caused by various diseases — most commonly Alzheimer's.<br /> Despite the massive impact dementia has, there are still many misconceptions around it.</p> <p>There are about 50 million people in the world living with dementia.</p> <p>It's the umbrella term given to the symptoms caused by over 100 different diseases and conditions — most commonly Alzheimer's. This is expected to go up to 152 million in 2050, <a href="https://www.dementiastatistics.org/statistics-about-dementia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Alzheimer's Research UK</a>.</p> <p>Bruce Willis' recent diagnosis has also placed a spotlight on <a href="https://www.insider.com/bruce-willis-diagnosis-frontotemporal-dementia-symptoms-treatment-2023-2">frontotemporal dementia, </a>the most common form of dementia for people under 60. It is a "cruel disease" that can "strike anyone," Willis' family said in a recent Instagram post announcing his condition on Thursday.</p> <p>Despite the massive impact dementia has on the economy and people's livelihoods, there are still many misconceptions around it. Here are some of the most common.</p> <div> <div class="slide">1. Alzheimer's disease and dementia are not the same thing <p class="copyright">Shutterstock</p> <p>Dementia is a term used for symptoms like confusion, memory loss, mood changes, and personality changes. There are a whole range of conditions that can cause dementia, not just Alzheimer's. <a href="https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/about-dementia/facts-stats/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-different-diseases-that-cause-dementia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The most common</a> are Alzheimer's Disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, vascular dementia and Frontotemporal dementia.</p> <p>"Sometimes people will say to me, oh well she has Alzheimer's disease, but she doesn't have dementia ... But really, if you have Alzheimer's disease and you're showing symptoms, then you have dementia," said Laura Phipps, the head of communications and engagement at Alzheimer's Research UK.</p> <p>"Dementia is just a word for the symptoms," she said.</p> </div> <div class="slide">2. People react differently to the wordsAn elderly couple looks out at the ocean as they sit on a park bench in La Jolla, California November 13, 2013. <p class="copyright">Reuters</p> <p>Although dementia and Alzheimer's are often confused, people tend to have different reactions to hearing each word.</p> <p>"When you ask them to think about Alzheimer's disease, they will put that in with other physical health conditions, like heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes," Phipps said. "And when you ask them to think about dementia, they don't know what to do with it, and they tend to put it in with things like age and mental health."</p> <p>So even though dementia is caused by illnesses like Alzheimer's, the word itself is conflated with being more of a mental disorder, rather than something caused by a physical disease.</p> </div> <div class="slide">3. Dementia isn't an inevitable part of getting older <p class="copyright">Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock</p> <p>A common misconception is that you get a bit forgetful as you get older, so dementia falls into that as an inevitability that just happens to most people.</p> <p>"They'll say, 'Oh yeah, my grandma had dementia, but she was very old,' so it's almost followed by an excuse that it was OK because they were old," Phipps said. "And so I think that drives this kind of view in society that the diseases that cause dementia are not that important because there's not much you can do about them."</p> <p>Dementia is caused by diseases. People understand cancer is a disease, Phipps said, but that's not yet universally accepted by people when it comes to dementia.</p> </div> <div class="slide">4. More people at 90 don't have dementia than have it <p class="copyright">Atthapon Raksthaput / Shutterstock</p> <p>By the time people get to 90 years old, they are more likely not to have any diseases that cause dementia than have one.</p> <p>Phipps said dementia research is behind a lot of other research because they have an extra mountain to climb. Because people think dementia is inevitable, they are less likely to be driven to support and fund research, she said.</p> </div> <div class="slide">5. Almost half of adults don't realise it causes deathDr. Melanie Kitagawa directs the pediatric intensive care unit at Texas Children’s Hospital. <p class="copyright">Texas Children’s Hospital</p> <p>A survey by Alzheimer's Research UK found that 51% of adults recognise that dementia leads to death.</p> <p>"These are physical diseases that ultimately are terminal — they will shorten your life," Phipps said. "But people don't recognise that, and again this just shows there is a lack of seriousness about it."</p> <p>Phipps said it's common to hear people joke about "having Alzheimer's." But you wouldn't joke about someone having another fatal illness, she said.</p> <p>"It's not appropriate in society to do that," she said. "But people will still do that about dementia because they don't recognise that diseases that cause dementia like Alzheimer's are terminal. They will end your life too soon."</p> </div> <div class="slide">6. A brain that is affected by Alzheimer's can weigh 140 grams less than an unaffected brainDavid Byrne holds a brain during his presentation as part of the first day of Lollapalooza Chile. <p class="copyright">Marcelo Hernandez/Getty</p> <p>There was an Alzheimer's UK campaign in 2016 called <a href="https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/orange/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Share the Orange</a> because a brain that is affected by Alzheimer's can weight up to 140g less than a normal brain — about the weight of an orange.</p> <p>"That's actually a huge amount of brain that's lost, but you can't see it," Phipps said. "So if someone was walking around and they had 75% of their leg, you'd probably notice and you might treat them better or cut them some slack or help them out. You can't see that physical effect with dementia."</p> </div> <div class="slide">7. There are more symptoms than memory loss <p class="copyright">Visoot Uthairam/Getty Images</p> <p>There is a slightly simplified view of dementia that it's all about getting forgetful when you get older. Memory loss is the most common symptom, Phipps said, but there are many more, including physical ones.</p> <p>"They won't be able to move around, they'll have difficulty speaking, they'll have trouble swallowing," she said. "It's ultimately those symptoms that make people immobile and much more frail and susceptible to things like falls or infections that they don't recover from."</p> </div> <div class="slide">8. A third of risk factors are within our control <p class="copyright">amriphoto/Getty Images</p> <p>People often understand the risk of dementia, Phipps said. About a third of cases of dementia could actually be down to risk factors that are in our control.</p> <p>Age is the biggest risk factor because dementia mostly affects older people. Some people have a genetic predisposition to developing diseases like Alzheimer's, which is out of their control.</p> <p>"But there are also lifestyle factors that can influence your risk of dementia," Phipps said. "And at a population level, these come out as things like smoking, like depression, physical inactivity, high blood pressure… so often it's things that are likely to impact your heart."</p> <p>Better treatment of high blood pressure and less smoking could both cause a significant deduction in the amount of people getting dementia, Phipps said. "So there are things people can do that are within their control that can reduce their risk of dementia."</p> </div> <div class="slide">9. Heart health and brain health are intrinsically linked <p class="copyright">Matt Cardy/Getty Images</p> <p>Many of the risk factors associated with dementia are the same as those associated with heart health. This is because your brain and heart are intrinsically linked together.</p> <p>"The majority of the blood that is pumped by your heart is used by your brain," said Phipps. "So anything that damages how your heart is working will have a knock-on effect on your brain health. And so a lot of the risk factors for dementia at the moment with the best evidence are also heart health risk factors."</p> <p>So even though people may be unsure about the risk factors of dementia, if you tell them it's the same as the ones for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attacks, they might have a better idea.</p> </div> <div class="slide">10. Mid life is the most important window for risk reduction <p class="copyright">Halfpoint/Shutterstock</p> <p>Many of the most important avoidable risk factors for dementia appear in mid-life, between the ages of about 40 and 64, <a href="https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/factsheet_risk_factors_for_dementia.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Alzheimer's Society</a>, such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.</p> <p>People who have had periods of depression in mid or later life also have increased rates of dementia.</p> </div> <div class="slide">11. It doesn't just affect old people <p class="copyright">VCG/Getty Images</p> <p>Dementia doesn't just affect older people. <a href="https://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2015.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">About 2-8% of all cases worldwide</a> affect younger people.</p> <p>"In 2015 we did some polling, and 46% of people think dementia mostly affects older people, 15% think it affects only older people, and 9% think it can also affect younger people," Phipps said.</p> <p>Diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in people aged 30 to 64 increased by 200% between 2013 and 2017, <a href="https://www.bcbs.com/the-health-of-america/reports/early-onset-dementia-alzheimers-disease-affecting-younger-american-adults" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to data from BlueCross BlueShield</a>.</p> <p>"There is not a definitive test for early-onset dementia or Alzheimer's disease, as diagnosis is primarily based on an individual's symptoms," the website reads. "As a result, people with early-onset dementia and Alzheimer's disease often undergo different forms of testing and treatment prior to diagnosis."</p> <p> </p> </div> <div class="slide">12. Sometimes, it only affects sight and perception <p class="copyright">S. Alemdar/Getty Images</p> <p>Sometimes memory loss isn't a symptom of dementia until it is very advanced. The type of dementia Terry Pratchett had, for example, affected how his brain interpreted vision from his eyes.</p> <p>"So actually he didn't have memory loss until the late stages, but he couldn't really see at all," Phipps said. "So he couldn't type, and had big gaps in his vision where he couldn't see things."</p> <p>Alzheimer's Research UK has a virtual reality dementia experience online called <a href="http://www.awalkthroughdementia.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Walk Through Dementia</a>, which shows some of the visual perception tricks dementia can have on someone. People often report thinking puddles on the ground look like holes, due to a lack of depth perception.</p> <p>"You know when you go into a shop and they used to have those big black mats in front of the door," Phipps said. "For some people with dementia, that looks like a massive abyss."</p> <p>Phipps said this means people with dementia won't go into shops, or they won't enter bathrooms because the shiny floors look like water.</p> <p>"If your brain was working 100% you would probably be able to perceive the difference between shiny and wet," she said. "But if there's damage in your brain you just can't quite make the judgement. Those things seem small but they can have a huge impact."</p> </div> <div class="slide">13. Aggression and confusion may come from these small perception errors <p class="copyright">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</p> <p>Small changes can have big impacts on how people with dementia live. It may be something small that is confusing them with a simple fix, but the person with dementia may not be able to articulate the problem.</p> <p>"There's a big movement now for people who are showing signs of aggression or agitation, and rather than immediately giving them anti-psychotic drugs, is to try and look at their environment," said Phipps. "Because it might be something really small like a change in routine or a change in the lamps or the way shadows are being cast around the room."</p> <p>These things can have "a massive impact on their level of anxiety, causing them to be agitated and aggressive," she said.</p> <p>Small tweaks to their environment, like having more lights, or keeping the curtains open, could really increase people's quality of life.</p> </div> <div class="slide">14. Disrupted sleep can be a factorIf weekends are the only time you can snag extra sleep, so bet it, but experts don't recommend waiting that long. <p class="copyright">Yasser Chalid / Getty Images</p> <p>Research has shown that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disrupted-circadian-rhythms-linked-to-alzheimers-disease-signs-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disrupted sleep</a> may be associated with a higher risk of early signs of Alzheimer's disease. This could mean that sleeping badly is an early warning sign of someone developing dementia.</p> <p>Bad sleep could either be a symptom of dementia, or a cause — or it could be that both are true.</p> <p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bad-sleep-increased-alzheimers-dementia-risk-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Other research supports the sleep theory</a>, with one study finding that just one night of disrupted sleep could lead to a spike in Alzheimer's-related proteins.</p> </div> <div class="slide">15. There is no cure or treatment for the progression of diseases that cause dementia <p class="copyright">Jammy Photography / Shutterstock</p> <p>There is currently no cure for the diseases that cause dementia, and no treatments that will modify the progression.</p> <p>Some drugs can help people to address certain symptoms, but they don't stop the disease progressing in the brain.</p> <p>This is why understanding that dementia may be preventable is so important, Phipps said, because increased awareness means more research.</p> <p>"There seems to be less stigma, and people seem to be more open about talking about diagnosis with someone, or having a conversation with somebody with dementia," she said. "I think awareness of dementia is better than it's ever been, but understanding of dementia hasn't quite caught up."</p> </div> </div> <div class="read-original">Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alzheimers-and-dementia-misconceptions-and-surprising-facts-2018-10">Business Insider</a></div><!-- /wp:html -->

Dementia currently affects about 50 million people in the world.

There are about 50 million people in the world living with dementia.
It’s the umbrella term given to the symptoms caused by various diseases — most commonly Alzheimer’s.
Despite the massive impact dementia has, there are still many misconceptions around it.

There are about 50 million people in the world living with dementia.

It’s the umbrella term given to the symptoms caused by over 100 different diseases and conditions — most commonly Alzheimer’s. This is expected to go up to 152 million in 2050, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Bruce Willis’ recent diagnosis has also placed a spotlight on frontotemporal dementia, the most common form of dementia for people under 60. It is a “cruel disease” that can “strike anyone,” Willis’ family said in a recent Instagram post announcing his condition on Thursday.

Despite the massive impact dementia has on the economy and people’s livelihoods, there are still many misconceptions around it. Here are some of the most common.

1. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are not the same thing

Dementia is a term used for symptoms like confusion, memory loss, mood changes, and personality changes. There are a whole range of conditions that can cause dementia, not just Alzheimer’s. The most common are Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, vascular dementia and Frontotemporal dementia.

“Sometimes people will say to me, oh well she has Alzheimer’s disease, but she doesn’t have dementia … But really, if you have Alzheimer’s disease and you’re showing symptoms, then you have dementia,” said Laura Phipps, the head of communications and engagement at Alzheimer’s Research UK.

“Dementia is just a word for the symptoms,” she said.

2. People react differently to the wordsAn elderly couple looks out at the ocean as they sit on a park bench in La Jolla, California November 13, 2013.

Although dementia and Alzheimer’s are often confused, people tend to have different reactions to hearing each word.

“When you ask them to think about Alzheimer’s disease, they will put that in with other physical health conditions, like heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes,” Phipps said. “And when you ask them to think about dementia, they don’t know what to do with it, and they tend to put it in with things like age and mental health.”

So even though dementia is caused by illnesses like Alzheimer’s, the word itself is conflated with being more of a mental disorder, rather than something caused by a physical disease.

3. Dementia isn’t an inevitable part of getting older

A common misconception is that you get a bit forgetful as you get older, so dementia falls into that as an inevitability that just happens to most people.

“They’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, my grandma had dementia, but she was very old,’ so it’s almost followed by an excuse that it was OK because they were old,” Phipps said. “And so I think that drives this kind of view in society that the diseases that cause dementia are not that important because there’s not much you can do about them.”

Dementia is caused by diseases. People understand cancer is a disease, Phipps said, but that’s not yet universally accepted by people when it comes to dementia.

4. More people at 90 don’t have dementia than have it

By the time people get to 90 years old, they are more likely not to have any diseases that cause dementia than have one.

Phipps said dementia research is behind a lot of other research because they have an extra mountain to climb. Because people think dementia is inevitable, they are less likely to be driven to support and fund research, she said.

5. Almost half of adults don’t realise it causes deathDr. Melanie Kitagawa directs the pediatric intensive care unit at Texas Children’s Hospital.

A survey by Alzheimer’s Research UK found that 51% of adults recognise that dementia leads to death.

“These are physical diseases that ultimately are terminal — they will shorten your life,” Phipps said. “But people don’t recognise that, and again this just shows there is a lack of seriousness about it.”

Phipps said it’s common to hear people joke about “having Alzheimer’s.” But you wouldn’t joke about someone having another fatal illness, she said.

“It’s not appropriate in society to do that,” she said. “But people will still do that about dementia because they don’t recognise that diseases that cause dementia like Alzheimer’s are terminal. They will end your life too soon.”

6. A brain that is affected by Alzheimer’s can weigh 140 grams less than an unaffected brainDavid Byrne holds a brain during his presentation as part of the first day of Lollapalooza Chile.

There was an Alzheimer’s UK campaign in 2016 called Share the Orange because a brain that is affected by Alzheimer’s can weight up to 140g less than a normal brain — about the weight of an orange.

“That’s actually a huge amount of brain that’s lost, but you can’t see it,” Phipps said. “So if someone was walking around and they had 75% of their leg, you’d probably notice and you might treat them better or cut them some slack or help them out. You can’t see that physical effect with dementia.”

7. There are more symptoms than memory loss

There is a slightly simplified view of dementia that it’s all about getting forgetful when you get older. Memory loss is the most common symptom, Phipps said, but there are many more, including physical ones.

“They won’t be able to move around, they’ll have difficulty speaking, they’ll have trouble swallowing,” she said. “It’s ultimately those symptoms that make people immobile and much more frail and susceptible to things like falls or infections that they don’t recover from.”

8. A third of risk factors are within our control

People often understand the risk of dementia, Phipps said. About a third of cases of dementia could actually be down to risk factors that are in our control.

Age is the biggest risk factor because dementia mostly affects older people. Some people have a genetic predisposition to developing diseases like Alzheimer’s, which is out of their control.

“But there are also lifestyle factors that can influence your risk of dementia,” Phipps said. “And at a population level, these come out as things like smoking, like depression, physical inactivity, high blood pressure… so often it’s things that are likely to impact your heart.”

Better treatment of high blood pressure and less smoking could both cause a significant deduction in the amount of people getting dementia, Phipps said. “So there are things people can do that are within their control that can reduce their risk of dementia.”

9. Heart health and brain health are intrinsically linked

Many of the risk factors associated with dementia are the same as those associated with heart health. This is because your brain and heart are intrinsically linked together.

“The majority of the blood that is pumped by your heart is used by your brain,” said Phipps. “So anything that damages how your heart is working will have a knock-on effect on your brain health. And so a lot of the risk factors for dementia at the moment with the best evidence are also heart health risk factors.”

So even though people may be unsure about the risk factors of dementia, if you tell them it’s the same as the ones for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attacks, they might have a better idea.

10. Mid life is the most important window for risk reduction

Many of the most important avoidable risk factors for dementia appear in mid-life, between the ages of about 40 and 64, according to the Alzheimer’s Society, such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

People who have had periods of depression in mid or later life also have increased rates of dementia.

11. It doesn’t just affect old people

Dementia doesn’t just affect older people. About 2-8% of all cases worldwide affect younger people.

“In 2015 we did some polling, and 46% of people think dementia mostly affects older people, 15% think it affects only older people, and 9% think it can also affect younger people,” Phipps said.

Diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia in people aged 30 to 64 increased by 200% between 2013 and 2017, according to data from BlueCross BlueShield.

“There is not a definitive test for early-onset dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, as diagnosis is primarily based on an individual’s symptoms,” the website reads. “As a result, people with early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease often undergo different forms of testing and treatment prior to diagnosis.”

 

12. Sometimes, it only affects sight and perception

Sometimes memory loss isn’t a symptom of dementia until it is very advanced. The type of dementia Terry Pratchett had, for example, affected how his brain interpreted vision from his eyes.

“So actually he didn’t have memory loss until the late stages, but he couldn’t really see at all,” Phipps said. “So he couldn’t type, and had big gaps in his vision where he couldn’t see things.”

Alzheimer’s Research UK has a virtual reality dementia experience online called A Walk Through Dementia, which shows some of the visual perception tricks dementia can have on someone. People often report thinking puddles on the ground look like holes, due to a lack of depth perception.

“You know when you go into a shop and they used to have those big black mats in front of the door,” Phipps said. “For some people with dementia, that looks like a massive abyss.”

Phipps said this means people with dementia won’t go into shops, or they won’t enter bathrooms because the shiny floors look like water.

“If your brain was working 100% you would probably be able to perceive the difference between shiny and wet,” she said. “But if there’s damage in your brain you just can’t quite make the judgement. Those things seem small but they can have a huge impact.”

13. Aggression and confusion may come from these small perception errors

Small changes can have big impacts on how people with dementia live. It may be something small that is confusing them with a simple fix, but the person with dementia may not be able to articulate the problem.

“There’s a big movement now for people who are showing signs of aggression or agitation, and rather than immediately giving them anti-psychotic drugs, is to try and look at their environment,” said Phipps. “Because it might be something really small like a change in routine or a change in the lamps or the way shadows are being cast around the room.”

These things can have “a massive impact on their level of anxiety, causing them to be agitated and aggressive,” she said.

Small tweaks to their environment, like having more lights, or keeping the curtains open, could really increase people’s quality of life.

14. Disrupted sleep can be a factorIf weekends are the only time you can snag extra sleep, so bet it, but experts don’t recommend waiting that long.

Research has shown that disrupted sleep may be associated with a higher risk of early signs of Alzheimer’s disease. This could mean that sleeping badly is an early warning sign of someone developing dementia.

Bad sleep could either be a symptom of dementia, or a cause — or it could be that both are true.

Other research supports the sleep theory, with one study finding that just one night of disrupted sleep could lead to a spike in Alzheimer’s-related proteins.

15. There is no cure or treatment for the progression of diseases that cause dementia

There is currently no cure for the diseases that cause dementia, and no treatments that will modify the progression.

Some drugs can help people to address certain symptoms, but they don’t stop the disease progressing in the brain.

This is why understanding that dementia may be preventable is so important, Phipps said, because increased awareness means more research.

“There seems to be less stigma, and people seem to be more open about talking about diagnosis with someone, or having a conversation with somebody with dementia,” she said. “I think awareness of dementia is better than it’s ever been, but understanding of dementia hasn’t quite caught up.”

Read the original article on Business Insider

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