Aging comes with many health problems including mild hearing loss. Usually, this mild hearing loss does not come alone. According to medical studies, adults, particularly males with hearing loss, mild or severe, are at a higher risk of developing Dementia and Alzheimer s disease. The risk increases as the hearing loss worsen. People with mild hearing loss are at twice the risk of developing dementia compared to people with normal hearing.

Dementia is a group of symptoms and diseases that affects the thinking, memory and social abilities that interfere with the daily functioning of an individual. However, memory loss alone does not mean that one has Dementia. Out of the many causes, Alzheimer s disease is usually the cause of Dementia. Alzheimer s disease is a progressive disease that affects the brain cells to degenerate and dies, destroying memory and other mental functions. 

How Hearing Loss Causes Alzheimer s?

According to medical studies, hearing loss causes several brain changes which increase the risk of developing Dementia. Hearing loss can lead to brain shrinkage, the process in which the section of the brain responsible for hearing becomes inactive. This condition leads to loss of tissues and alterations in the brain structure, developing as the first connection between hearing loss and Alzheimer s. Studies show that the brain of people shrinks more quickly who have hearing loss as compared to the brain of an individual with normal hearing. 

The second link created with an overwhelmed or overloaded brain. In hearing loss, the brain works overtime in understanding what others are saying. When the brain strains too much only for hearing every time and every day, it exhausts an individual s mental energy and snatches the brainpower required for other important mental functions, such as thinking, remembering and acting. This can further lead to Dementia, Alzheimer s and other mental disorders. 

Hearing Aids to prevent Dementia and Alzheimer s

According to various studies, hearing aids are not only helpful in improving one s hearing but they can also preserve an individual s mental and emotional health. Early diagnosis and treatment of a possible hearing loss help reduce risks later in life.

At times, the symptoms of undiagnosed hearing loss are mistaken with the symptoms of Alzheimer s. Hearing impairment makes it challenging for an individual to listen and respond to verbal signs. It increases the feeling of confusion, paranoia, and isolation. 

Hearing aids can relieve the symptoms of Alzheimer s. According to a study hearing aids slow down the rate of memory loss and improve an individual s quality of life.

Takeaway

Adults, especially males with hearing loss have a greater tendency of developing Dementia and Alzheimer s. Hearing loss causes brain to overwork leading to the loss of important mental functions. Hearing impairment can worsen the symptoms of Dementia and Alzheimer s. 

Hearing aids do help in improving the condition and symptoms of Alzheimer s and improve one s quality of life. A timely diagnosis can make a big difference.

Dementia And Alzheimer's Disease In Elderly - Could Hearing Loss A Reason?

With age, just like other body functions, the mind too begins to slow down. This could lead to problems in communication, focus, recall, reasoning, and thinking. So with dementia, the person faces problems which are a combination of above-mentioned activities. Dementia is a symptom associated with many diseases and is not a disease on its own.

Alzheimer s is the main cause of dementia, followed by stroke or brain injury, Huntington s disease, and Lewy body disease. However, there are some symptoms that can be indicative that a person is gradually progressing into dementia. Watching out for these symptoms can help one seek help at an early stage, thereby helping the affected person, and slowing down its progress.

Short term memory loss: With age, people tend to forget what happened recently, and this can even be something as recent as the previous day. However, they can very clearly recollect events from the past. They might forget things like where they have placed their glasses, where the television remote control is, etc. They may also ask for the same information repeatedly, even after it is answered.
Mood changes: Rapid mood swings is observed in a person suffering from dementia. Their emotions keep changing within a matter of seconds, and they may show also less emotion than what they used to show previously.
Personality changes: Since dementia affects reasoning and judgment, someone who was earlier shy could suddenly become outgoing. Their inhibitions which led to a shy personality are lost, making them more outgoing.
Difficulty in performing regular tasks: Be it forgetting things like laying out tables, keeping things back in their places, or organising medical kits, with dementia setting in, these tasks slowly become more difficult to do. Also, learning new tasks, even simple ones, seem tough and are often not accomplished.
Losing storylines: The elderly would usually be good with telling and appreciating stories like telling tales to their grandchildren or following television soaps and stories. However, as dementia begins to set in, they tend to lose storylines, both when observing and telling.
Repeating actions: As they are not able to register things, they tend to repeat things, both in words and in actions.
Feeling lost: Things like heading out to a store to buy something and then wondering why they came there are common. Short-term memory loss can cause such situations. This confusion, especially with regard to time and things, is very common.
Spatial and time orientation: There could be problems relating to space and time, seasons, and they may often ask questions like what time it is, etc. Routine tasks like paying bills, cooking using recipe books, which were easily managed, suddenly begin to look difficult.
Apathy: Losing interest in people, hobbies, or other things like puzzles, which they once enjoyed, become boring and unenjoyable.

9 Early Symptoms of Dementia!

World Alzheimer s Day is celebrated on the 21st of September each year. A number of organizations, from all over the world concentrate on raising the awareness about Alzheimer s disease and dementia. Alzheimer s disease is a very common type of dementia. It falls under the group of disorders in which mental functioning gets impaired. Life for an Alzheimer s patients is quite difficult, but by following the following tips, you can support yourself and will also help you to cope with it. 

You have to accept the changes and accept that life will continue getting difficult. Instead of trying to cover your difficulties for protection from embarrassment, you should face the fact. You also have to accept the changes in your physical abilities and adapt to skills, which are beneficial.
You should develop some ideal coping strategies. Try to be occupied and involved and respond to the challenges you face in everyday life. By practicing the coping skills you will be able to gain a sense of control in your life.
Try to identify stuff. Make a list of all the tasks which seem challenging to you and try to develop coping strategies for these tasks. Prioritize your tasks and determine whether it is really necessary to overcome certain tasks. You should also strategize solutions and come up with solutions which would suit you best.
You should set realistic goals and expectations for yourself and use the coping skills to deal with difficult tasks. In case of very challenging tasks, do not hesitate to take help.
A daily routine or plan is required for keeping a track of several tasks. A schedule reduces the amount of time you spend to figure out something, simplifying your task and also prevents mistakes.
Always approach one task at a time and take enough time to complete tasks. Do not give up on challenging tasks and take breaks to figure things out.
Always remember that you have more than a single chance to solve problems. If one chance fails, you should adopt new strategies and try again and again with better assessment.
You should identify the triggers which cause anxiety and stress. Knowing the causes will allow you to plan in advance so that you can prevent them.
Keep in mind that your family, friends, pets, will power and prayers are sources of great strength and will help you get past any obstacle.
You should accept help from others and do not hesitate or think about being dependent on others.
You should take the advice from your psychiatrist or from Alzheimer Association National Early-Stage Advisors in order to understand the challenges such as medications, management of schedules and dealing with emotional or relationship changes.

Alzheimer's - 10 Tips to Help Dementia Patients Cope with their Problem

The skin is an elastic organ (yes, it is an organ!), but only to a certain extent. It has a limit to which it can accommodate the underlying tissues. With the increase in bulk, for example, puberty, pregnancy, muscle mass building or surgical implants, the skin is made to stretch beyond its limits. What happens is this stretch causes the skin to stretch too, and these stretch marks or striae become an unpleasant thing that needs to be hidden. 

Dressing needs to be changed so that they are not showing. Dermatologists see a big demand for getting rid of these marks too. There have been conventional, time-tested methods which help in getting rid of these. However, with newer advancements in dermatology, the platelet rich plasma is being widely used for getting rid of these stretch marks.

Why stretch marks? 

In any of the scenarios above, the stretch marks appear because there is a lack of underlying supportive tissue when it is stretched out. There is a lack of collagen and connective tissue, causing stretch marks. These are most evident in fat collecting areas like breasts, abdomen, thighs, upper arms, etc.

What is platelet-rich plasma or PRP? 

The blood is composed of a liquid portion known as plasma, which contains three main types of cells i.e. white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. The white blood cells are the ones responsible for fighting infections. The red cells give blood its color and also are responsible for carrying nutrients to the various organs. The platelets are tiny fragments of cells which help in blood clotting. Platelets are also rich in what are called totipotent cells, which can grow into any type of cells. When the body is affected, due to injury, infection, trauma, etc., these get concentrated in the affected area and are produced in large numbers to help in the recovery of the particular affected area.

Technique: 

The area to be treated is isolated and prepared. Blood is centrifuged to remove other cells and obtain platelet rich plasma. This RPR is injected into the underlying layers of the skin. This induces the release of growth factors into the connective tissue space. Collagen is produced over a period of time, which causes the skin to become taut and lose the stretch marks. The injection can be repeated if required on the topmost layer. It can also be mixed with thrombin to form a gel, which is then used similarly. Using it both in the underlying and superficial layers helps in completely getting rid of the marks.

Studies have shown a reduction in both the depth and size of the stretch marks and some might require two to three repeat injections.


Stretch Marks - How PRP Therapy Can Help You?

Dementia refers to the progressive loss of memory in a human being. It does not refer to any particular disease. It is rather a cumulative representation of symptoms which signify that the person is losing his or her memory. Dementia occurs in seven stages. Read on to read more about them:

In the first stage, there is no cognitive decline and the person is mentally sound. There is no memory loss as well.
In the second stage, there is a very mild cognitive decline leading to normal forgetfulness that is often associated with progressing age.
In the third stage, there is a mild cognitive decline. The person has an increased forgetfulness and may find it difficult to concentrate on things.
In the fourth stage, there is moderate cognitive decline and the person starts forgetting even the most recent events. They cannot even travel alone or manage their own finances.
In the fifth stage, there is moderately severe cognitive decline. The person going through this stage often requires help even with their daily activities. People tend to forget even the most common things like phone and email passwords.
In the sixth stage, there is severe cognitive decline. This stage is also called middle dementia and there is prominent memory loss. People cannot even count from 1 to 10. Their speech becomes slurry. They also start having delusions.
In the seventh stage, there is very severe cognitive decline. This stage is also called late dementia. The psychomotor skills are also lost at this stage and the person may not even be able to walk properly.
Some of the early signs of dementia are listed below:

In the initial days of dementia, the person usually tends to get confused when it comes to choosing the right words. This makes them take much longer time to conclude their speech.
There might also be a change in the mood of the person.
Depression is also one of the early signs.

The person will have a tendency to forget even the most recent events that took place in his or her life. This means that they might remember what happened ten years before but they might not remember what they did in the morning.
Early signs also include failure to sense directions. People often tend to forget their addresses and the landmarks and thus become lost when they travel alone.
Confusion is also one of the common signs and this is directly correlated to the loss of memory because when a person cannot remember familiar faces, it leads to a lot of confusion within his own mind.
So, if you suspect that someone in your house is suffering from dementia, then you must look out for these early signs and seek medical help immediately. Early treatment can keep the condition from worsening.

Dementia - Stages and Early Signs!

Dementia cannot be singularly regarded as a specific disease, but rather indicates a group of symptoms associated with your memory, cognitive thinking, and social abilities, up to the point where daily functioning gets affected. In most cases, dementia steadily worsens over time (progressive dementias). Dementia is not to be confused with memory loss alone; because it is natural with old people to experience memory loss, but that does not necessarily mean they have dementia. If the reason is dementia, then you may require medical treatment.

Causes

Dementias are generally caused either by damage to or changes in the nerve cells operating in the brain. The causes can be grouped differently based on the type of dementia experienced and the part of the brain affected. While some causes can be reversed with effective treatment, others, unfortunately, cannot.

The most common causes of dementia which cannot be reversed include:

1. Alzheimer's disease
2. Vascular dementia
3. Parkinson's disease
4. Frontotemporal dementia
5. Dementia with Lewy (dementia which is neurodegenerative and progressive in nature) bodies
6. Severe head injuries

Other irreversible causes which are relatively rarer than usual include:

1. Huntington's disease (breakage of the brain's nerve cells)
2. Creutzfeldt-jakob disease (irreversible and fatal brain disease)
3. Multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
4. Infections like syphilis
5. Leukoencephalopathies (diseases affecting the brain's'white' areas)
6. Brain injuries
7. Multiple system atrophy

Causes of dementia which can be treated include:

1. Hypothyroidism
2. Heavy metal poisoning
3. Certain brain tumors
4. Chronic alcoholism
5. Hiv/aids
6. Vitamin b12 deficiency
7. Medicinal side effects or abnormal drug reactions
8. Normal pressure hydrocephalus
9. Certain cases of encephalitis

Symptoms

Symptoms of dementia include:

1. Memory loss
2. Difficulty finding the right words
3. Difficulty exercising judgments, especially during emergencies
4. Inability to recall particular events or to recognize people and places
5. Depression or other mood disorders, in addition to symptoms like uncontrolled aggression or constant agitation.

Causes and Symptoms of Dementia

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