Dementia causes loss of thinking, remembering, and reasoning skills to the point where it interferes with day-to-day tasks. Some dementia patients become emotionally unstable, which could lead to a changed personality.

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The five most commonly diagnosed types of dementia are:

• Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia worldwide. Early signs of Alzheimer’s include forgetting names, recent events, disorientation, mood and personality changes as well as neglecting personal care. A family history of Alzheimer’s and genetics are risk factors for the disease which mostly gets diagnosed among the elderly.
• Vascular dementia could develop over time or have a sudden onset. Early signs are confusion and disorientation. The risk of getting vascular dementia increases with age. Other risk factors include a history of heart attack or strokes, high cholesterol or blood pressure and lupus.
• Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is caused by protein accumulation in nerve cells. Disorientation and memory loss result from these deposits which cause disruption of chemical signals in the brain. Patients with DLB may experience hallucinations, have trouble sleeping at night, fall asleep easily during the day, have fainting spells or become lost or disoriented.

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• Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) could lead to difficulty with the processing of visual information, or remembering how to perform simple everyday tasks. Early signs of this type of dementia include problems with reasoning and judgment. 
• Mixed dementia is diagnosed in patients presenting more than one type of dementia.  Vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s are the most prevalent types that form part of mixed dementia. Some people experience memory loss and disorientation first, while others have changes in behaviour and mood. As the disease progresses, most  mixed dementia patients experience difficulty speaking and walking

If you suspect someone you know or love has dementia, it is best to seek medical advice.

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