Senior Care Greensboro – Supporting Those With Dementia

As we age, we naturally have difficulty remembering things or finding the right words to say. This is normal.  However, Dementia is not normal. It’s a condition that causes mental changes, making it virtually impossible to function normally, let alone remember names and dates.   Those who most often suffer from Dementia are the elderly, but the disease is not confined to the geriatric population.   Dementia causes a decline in all areas of intellectual functioning, particularly memory, the use of language and numbers and also an awareness of place, judgment and reason.   What were normally simple tasks suddenly turn into very difficult challenges.    Before the onset of modern medical technology, dementia was considered to be a normal part of aging, but we now know that dementia is not a normal part of the aging process at all, but rather the result of a number of underlying medical conditions.   Dementia in the elderly can take on two different forms; irreversible and treatable.   Irreversible causes of dementia include; Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and Huntington’s Disease.   Treatable causes of dementia on the other hand can result from; severe head trauma, infections, brain tumors, toxic exposure, drug overdoses, chronic alcoholism or nutritional deficiencies. Dementia causes brain cells to be destroyed, and once brain cells are destroyed they cannot be replaced.  If the disease is triggered by treatable causes, then this destruction of brain cells can be slowed or stopped.   Conversely, when the cause of dementia cannot be treated, the focus of care is simply on helping the person with his or her daily activities and reducing his/her anxiety. Many people with dementia need no medication for behavioral problems. But for some people, doctors may prescribe medications to reduce agitation, anxiety, depression, or sleeping problems. These difficult behaviors are common in people with dementia.

For family members acting as caregivers for their loved ones with dementia, there are many stresses.   Most family caregivers are untrained and have little to no experience assisting someone with a serious medical condition.   Therefore, it’s important to consider the option of hiring an in home care agency to help assist in the caregiving.   Getting trained outside help can improve the lives of everyone, including the patient and the family caregiver.