Dementia Research Paper

A way to think about the Central Nervous System is to look at it like a “Central Postal Office”, the brain acts like the post office receiving and sending messages to and from the body, like a post office receives and sends mail, and the spinal cord would be the mail truck sending messages to and from the brain. If you factor in having dementia, it would be like receiving a message but forgetting to send it out or forgetting you even received it. Dementia is the common deterioration of mental ability that is fierce enough to interfere with everyday living. Although dementia is used very broadly as a specific disease, it is actually a broad term that describes certain symptoms. Dementia is also called the Neurocognitive disorder, “Dementia …show more content…
The two most common are Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia. Alzheimer’s Disease accounts for about sixty to eighty percent of cases reported and is most commonly found in adults sixty-five years or older. “Although the cause of Alzheimer's disease isn't known, plaques and tangles are often found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. Plaques are clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid, and tangles are fibrous tangles made up of tau protein” (mayoclinic). Genetics have also been found to be a cause of Alzheimer’s. Vascular Dementia is caused by damage to blood vessels that send messages to your brain -- which is also the type of Dementia that occurs after a stroke, is second in line to being the most common. “But there are many other conditions that can cause symptoms of dementia, including some that are reversible, such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies,” (Alzheimer's). For example, Dementia is a symptom of Pellagra which is a deficiency disease from the lack of vitamin B3. Other examples of causes could be traumatic brain injuries, infections of the central nervous system, long term drug or alcohol use, or certain types of fluids in the …show more content…
These can be treated by certain medications specific to the type. For the other eighty percent of dementias, there is unfortunately no cure, but there are things that can be done to manage the symptoms. There are medications that doctors prescribe to help aid in the management. “Cholinesterase inhibitors -- These medications work by boosting levels of a chemical messenger involved in memory and judgment.Side effects can include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea and Memantine -- this works by regulating the activity of glutamate, another chemical messenger involved in brain functions, such as learning and memory,” (mayoclinic). Additional treatments could be therapies such as occupational therapies, correcting the environment and changing up everyday

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