The Most Common Types of Dementia in Seniors

Over 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There are over ten million new cases yearly.

That may sound like a lot of people suffering from one disease, but the thing about dementia is that it’s not a single disease — it’s a syndrome. There are many types of dementia.

Some have clear causes, while others have identifiable symptoms with no clear reason for why they occur. There is no cure for any form of this condition. However, there are treatments for dementia symptoms.

Understanding which form of dementia a person has can also help improve their quality of life. Keep reading to learn more about the different types of dementia and helpful resources.

Types of Dementia

The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. A build-up of two proteins, amyloid, and tau, clumps into tangles and plaques within abnormal brain conditions.

These clumps shrink and damage the parts of the brain involved in memory, thinking, and language. Alzheimer’s reduces the amount of chemicals that deliver messages throughout the brain.

Eventually, the brain cannot deal with the damage and their memory and thinking are compromised. Alzheimer’s compromises one’s ability to do everyday tasks and generally progresses in stages:

• Mild
  • Wandering and getting lost
• Moderate
  • Difficulties remembering family and friends
  • Lowered impulse control
• Severe
  • Trouble communicating

Alzheimer’s disease typically affects people in their mid-60s and older. However, adults in their mid-30s can also be affected by the illness.

Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia (FDT) is one of the less common forms and mostly occurs in people under 65. FDT, or Pick’s disease, involves the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes and occurs when nerve cells are damaged.

As the damage accumulates, the frontal and temporal lobes shrink, which compromises the connection between these two lobes and the brain. There are several kinds of FTD:

• Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (BvFtD)
  • Lobe damage mostly affects behavior, personality, and emotion
  • Damages include:
    • Problems with planning and organization
    • Impulsivity
    • Emotional flatness or excessive emotiveness
• Primary progressive aphasia (PPA)
  • Complicates the ability to communicate via:
    • Writing
    • Reading
    • Speaking
    • Communicating with others
  • There are two PPA subtypes
    • Progressive nonfluent aphasia
      • Affects the ability to speak
    • Semantic dementia
      • Impacts the ability to use and understand language

FDT also includes movement disorders. Shaky hands and balance issues are common symptoms of frontotemporal dementia.

People often experience behavioral changes first, then difficulties with language. However, both can occur together.

Memory issues usually aren’t a big problem for those with FDT early in their condition. FDT often occurs in people between their mid-40s to 60s

Lewy Body Dementia

Lewy body dementia comes from Lewy body disease, which causes tiny protein clumps (Lewy bodies) to accumulate in the brain’s nerve cells. Scientists aren’t sure why Lewy bodies appear in the brain.

Experts also can’t say exactly why they cause dementia. Here is what we do know, though:

• Lewy bodies cause different symptoms depending on the location
  • They differ based on where the largest fatty build-ups are
• Lewy bodies lower the amount of messenger chemicals in the brain
• These fatty deposits break the connections between nerve cells
  • These cells eventually stop working
• The syndrome usually develops over years, typically near old age
  • Lewy bodies can hide in the brain for years before symptoms show

Lewy body dementia has four main categories of symptoms. First are the cognitive issues, which include an inability to:

• Concentrate
• Stay alert
• Maintain organized and logical ideas

This form of dementia also causes movement issues such as impaired coordination, muscle rigidity, and reduced facial expressions. The third group of symptoms includes sleep disorders like:

• Insomnia
• Increased daytime sleepiness

Visual hallucinations are the fourth type of symptom. Lewy body disease may not be the only cause of a person’s dementia. Lewy body dementia manifests in people’s 50s.

Vascular Dementia

Vascular dementia is the second most common type after Alzheimer’s. What symptoms a person experiences depends on the person and the affected areas of the brain.

There are various types of vascular dementia. The commonality is they’re caused by inhibited blood flow to the brain, eventually damaging it. Here is a quick list of a few kinds of vascular dementia:

• Subcortical vascular dementia
  • Thought to be the most common type
  • Caused by thickening blood vessels in the brain
  • The thickened tissue makes blood flow more difficult
• Stroke related dementia
  • Happens when the stroke cuts off the blood supply to the brain
• Multi-infarct dementia
  • Caused by a series of small strokes
  • It can also come from transient ischaemic attacks (TIA)
    • Similar to strokes, but symptoms only last a short while
    • TIA also tends to get better on its own

High blood pressure and diabetes are other potential causes of vascular dementia. Symptoms include:

• Poor judgment
• Misplacing items
• Issues following instructions or learning new information and skills
• Forgetting past or current events
• Hallucinations or delusions

Vascular dementia is most commonly found in people 65 years or older.

Support Resources for Dementia

Caring for someone with any form of dementia can be difficult, having it even more so. Doctors can often give support, information, and materials to learn about and deal with the syndrome.

The Alzheimer’s Association also has a 24/7 helpline at 1-800-287-3900. They offer various resources for caretakers, like e-learning workshops, planning aids, and an online forum.

Other informational sources include the National Institute on Aging (NIA), which provides helpful publications about Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. The Eldercare Locator can help you find local aid.

AngelSense is a handy service you may want to consider. It’s a GPS tracker you connect to a mobile app that helps you find older adults who tend to wander. It comes with a monthly or yearly subscription.

Understanding Dementia

Understanding the various types of dementia makes it easier to find aid and treatment for what your loved one is experiencing. We can’t directly aid with the syndrome, but Redbud Place can provide a safe environment.

Redbud Place offers engaging social events and activities within our assisted living community. We help with activities of daily living and monitor our residents to ensure they get the best care.

Contact us to discuss our 24-hour fast-track move-in program or our veteran’s discount. Don’t hesitate to visit our lovely community!