Dementia: Understanding the Diagnosis

Categories: Nursing
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About Course

Doctors diagnose the cause of dementia by asking questions about the person’s medical history and doing a physical exam, a mental status exam, and lab and imaging tests. Tests can help the doctor find out if the loss of mental abilities is caused by a condition that can be treated.

Tips for Having the Talk With a Parent About Dementia Symptoms
  1. Acknowledge the conversation may not go as planned.
  2. Have the conversation as early as possible.
  3. Offer your support.
  4. Plan specific ways to start the conversation.
  5. Realize gaps in self-awareness.
  6. Think through who should have the conversation.

Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Some people with dementia cannot control their emotions, and their personalities may change. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, when the person must depend completely on others for basic activities of living.

What Will You Learn?

  • What are the signs and symptoms of dementia?
  • Signs and symptoms of dementia result when once-healthy neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain stop working, lose connections with other brain cells, and die. While everyone loses some neurons as they age, people with dementia experience far greater loss.
  • The symptoms of dementia can vary and may include:
  • Experiencing memory loss, poor judgment, and confusion
  • Difficulty speaking, understanding and expressing thoughts, or reading and writing
  • Wandering and getting lost in a familiar neighborhood
  • Trouble handling money responsibly and paying bills
  • Repeating questions
  • Using unusual words to refer to familiar objects
  • Taking longer to complete normal daily tasks
  • Losing interest in normal daily activities or events
  • Hallucinating or experiencing delusions or paranoia
  • Acting impulsively
  • Not caring about other people’s feelings
  • Losing balance and problems with movement
  • People with intellectual and developmental disabilities can also develop dementia as they age, and recognizing their symptoms can be particularly difficult. It’s important to consider a person’s current abilities and to monitor for changes over time that could signal dementia.
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