As part of Dementia Awareness Week, supported by the Alzheimer's Society, we have compiled a variety of content including academic articles, interviews and guides on dementia to help raise awareness. Choose from the following sections below to get started:
What is dementia?
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a number of different disorders that affect the brain, particularly memory, behaviour, thinking and emotion.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. Other causes include vascular disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and fronto-temporal dementia.
Dementia symptoms include difficulty recalling recent events, concentrating and following conversation.
Dementia is incurable but research into a cure is ongoing.
Mixed dementia is possible, for example some people have Alzheimer's disease as well as Vascular disease.
Who is affected?
Dementia can affect anyone, anywhere - regardless of race or socio-economic background.
One in three people over the age of 65 will develop dementia but people as young as 40 have been diagnosed.
Two-thirds of dementia victims are women, this could be due to the lack of oestrogen after the menopause.
People in the developed world see more cases of dementia. However, this is because people live longer than those in poorer countries.
Family members and close friends are often affected by the progress of a loved one's dementia due to little help and lack of understanding.
Carers can be overworked and dementia sufferers distressed as there is an insufficiency of support and resources.
What are the symptoms?
Every person will experience dementia differently and some of the signs are not always obvious. Hence, there's usually a late diagnosis. Some of the most common symptoms include:
- Difficulty recalling recent events but remembering the past
- Unable to make decisions
- Problems with finding the right word
- Losing track of the day/date
- Confusion of their whereabouts
- Difficulties carrying out an everyday series of tasks such as cooking
- Inability to judge distances such as the stairs
- Trouble handling money, particularly in shops
- Changes in personality or mood
- Depression
Can I reduce the risk of getting dementia?
About a fifth of people think it's impossible to reduce their risk of dementia. However, there is a vast amount of evidence showing seven simple lifestyle choices that can help prevent the onset of dementia.
- Regular exercise - just 30 minutes of walking, swimming or everyday workouts such as housework are beneficial.
- Healthy diet - follow a mediterranean diet, avoid saturated fats and eat superfoods such as ginger and blueberries
- Mental stimulation - do some brain boosting activities; learn a new language, enjoy puzzles or read a good book.
- Avoid smoking - nicotine damages the blood vessels and reduces the amount of blood that reaches your brain.
- Manage existing illnesses - other health conditions such as type 2 diabetes can increase the risk of dementia.
- Reduce stress - don't forget to breathe when you feel stressed and take up a calming activity such as yoga or meditation.
- Be sociable - make a date with friends, volunteer or join a new activity club and keep in contact over social media.
Learn more about healthy diets
Can I take a dementia care course?
Here at OpenLearn we offer a fantastic range of free courses on health and social care. You may also want to take your interest in dementia and health care further by taking an Open University course.
Support and information
Call the Alzheimer's Society National Dementia Helpline on 0300 222 1122. Visit www.alzheimers.org.uk for more information, advice and support in your local area.
Discover more about care services ran by the NHS or social services on the NHS website or find your local authority to see what support they can offer.
Visit www.dementiacare.org.uk for training, care and advice. You can also find out more on day clubs for people with dementia and their carers.
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Article reviews
Jean Butler - 2 January 2015 7:32pm
I cannot hear the sound on the videos, The words & phrases help but are not enough for me. Are written synopses or full scripts available to download ? Thanks in advance. Jean
OpenLearn Moderator - 3 January 2015 9:49am
Hi Jean
Many thanks for raising this. The OpenLearn team are part way through an ongoing process of reviewing all our interactives, to make improvements and ensure that where possible they are fully compliant with accessibility guidelines.
I will pass your comments on to the team, and find out what the plans are for the videos associated with dementia awareness.
best wishes for the new year,
OpenLearn Moderator
OpenLearn Moderator - 6 January 2015 1:40pm
Hi Jean,
I've heard back from the team and they are in the process of redeveloping this interactive to support the new BBC series Dementia. They will strip out the content from the current version, record new tracks with transcripts and re-launch the tool in HTML5 rather than Flash. This should be ready sometime in February.
I hope this helps Jean.
Best wishes
OpenLearn Moderator
Three are in a home and one in hospital and I had other's who have passed on with this same disease. It is terrible that there is only one type of medication that is prescribed for early signs of this. It is okay for health professionals to say that we need to research but there is never enough funding to do this- yet they spend more money on treating drug addiction with Methadone and clearly with the evidence available it doesn't help the addict. If we are treating more elderly people with Dementia surely more money should be allocated.
When I have visited the hospital ward that a parent has been in, there isn't a lot of stimulation for a patient with this. They use different holistic thearapies for people who have cancer related illness why can't the same be applied to a dementia patient. My parent used to love to go dancing but has lost the power of her legs surely music is a type of stimulation for the mind. Photographs of the era that these patients were born in is another type of thing to stimulate. I know they lack concentration skills as I have witnessed this first hand. I also think today's society is a challenge for today's aging population as they find it hard to cope with the environment that they live in they can't cope with difficult situations. You often hear the term post code lottery being used to describe the lack of funding for certain groups who need specialist medication for aggressive forms of cancer; but the elderly could fit into this category too.
It is the decision makers of the country see our elderly population as a burden. They are people like everyone else is as they have contributed to society throughout their lives by paying taxes; we hear so much about childcare what about the gran and grandpa's who are the unpaid child carers because their children can't afford to pay a child minder. In Europe they have better provision for the elderly; in a recent media report from France they used an alternative programme to stimulate dementia patients. The NHS is struggling to survive as it is and Dementia suffers get passed down the end of the queue. I've seen this at first hand when it comes to A&E departments after sitting for 5/6 hours waiting to see a doctor. It is the pen pushers in our society who clearly don't have all the answers when it comes to Dementia care as there isn't enough specialist care. We should look towards Europe as they know how to deal with this and what is best for the Dementia patient. This country drags its heels and has done so for many years my grandmother died of this disease 32 years ago and I feel nothing has changed since then.