CogniFit's Science blog: A Basic Understanding Of Dementia

A Basic Understanding Of Dementia

Dementia is not something that anyone wants to deal with in life. The result of dementia is the inability to use your brain the way it was meant to be used. It can cause confusion, severe memory loss, and even the ability to go through a typical day without assistance from someone else.

This debilitating disease is more common amongst the elderly, but isn’t only limited to older individuals. It can stem from physical trauma to the head or through various brain diseases, some that are typically genetics and others that aren’t.

One of the main culprit associated with dementia is that it affects the area of the brain that deals with language, memory and problem solving. Severe dementia can result in complete memory loss and inability to take care of themselves and do normal tasks like preparing food, tying shoelaces, or even brushing their teeth.

The good news about dementia is that there are many things that you can do early on in life to decrease your risk of developing it. Some patients that have been diagnosed with early onset dementia can even work to keep it from getting worse and/or even begin to try to reverse its symptoms entirely.

Although there is no real cure for dementia, certain studies are showing that mind training and challenging the mind early and often can work to decrease some of the signs associated with onset dementia.

This is why it is so important to make sure that you don’t lead a complacent and sedentary lifestyle. The more you can challenge yourself mentally each and every day, the less likely you will be to develop dementia later on in life. Challenging your brain can help to make sure that you keep your brain sharp and in a healthy state.

It is frustrating to see loved ones have to deal with this awful brain disease. And even if there is no real medicine or cure to help someone rid the disease entirely, it is best to try and get as early a diagnosis as possible. Certain symptoms can be helped but only if you catch the disease at its early stages.

If you feel that you or a loved one has signs of early onset dementia, be sure to get it checked out as soon as possible. Not all forms of memory loss and confusion are dementia, and it is best to know what your options are before it is too late.