Importance Of Neuropsychological Work-up In Dementia!

As people age, a gradual decline of their cognitive abilities sets in. This is dementia. It is actually an umbrella term as it encompasses a range of psychological ailments all of which result in the impairment of the activities of the brain. Chief among these ailments is Alzheimer’s which is responsible for about 60% of all cases of dementia.

What causes Dementia?

Scientists have not been able to pinpoint the exact cause of dementia. Based on observation and surveys, they have concluded that dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder that can be triggered by-

• Old age and the progressive death of brain cells. This is what leads to Alzheimer’s.
• Cerebral or vascular diseases or strokes could set into motion a gradual deterioration of the brain cells.
• An injury or trauma to the brain could trigger dementia
• HIV may also damage brain cells that could lead to dementia
• Excessive consumption of alcohol
• A malfunctioning thyroid gland

What are The Symptoms of Dementia?

Dementia is a dreaded disorder as it can completely cripple a person’s cognitive faculties and cause a complete disruption of their life. The commonest symptoms of dementia and its constituent psychological illnesses are-

• Loss of short term memory
• Inability to interact and communicate
• Losing grasp over language
• Inability to keep track of everything that is happening around the person
• Gradual loss of reasoning and judgement
• Inability to make decisions and make plans
• Diminished perception

Persons with dementia slowly lose their grip on life. It becomes gradually impossible for them to effectively perform simple everyday activities like planning a meal, shopping for necessities, making payments and sometimes, or return home. In the progressive stages of dementia, they are unable to recognise their loved ones.

Diagnosis of Dementia:

As soon as you notice that you are beginning to manifest these symptoms or if your loved one displays them, seek treatment immediately. The right treatment can slow down the progress of this ruinous illness.
Diagnosis of dementia can be tricky. Some of these symptoms could be triggered by other ailments as well. But, usually, a doctor concludes that you have dementia if at least two core brain functions have been impeded. This can be done by administering a variety of problem solving and linguistic tests to gauge the state of your memory, reasoning, decision-making, attention span and language skills. These are neuropsychological tests.

The doctor will also factor in your family and medical history. The intensity and severity of the symptoms will also be weighed in. There will be further neurological tests to determine your balance, perception, senses and reflexes.

To corroborate their diagnosis, doctors may prescribe CT, MRI scans as well as PET scans.

Further tests might include collecting and analyzing blood samples to check if a thyroid imbalance is the cause of dementia.

How can a dementia patient cope with the condition?

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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 a better assessment.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. You should accept help from others and do not hesitate or think about being dependent on others.

Treatment of Dementia:

Treatment of dementia consists of medicines and therapy. Drugs may include Cholinesterase inhibitors, which boost neurotransmission to improve memory and judgment and amantadines that regulate the function of the chemical messenger glutamate and help with restoring your memory and learning abilities.

As for therapies, your combination of symptoms will decide which one is ideal for you. It could be any one of the following-

• Environmental modification: It consists of de-cluttering the surroundings of the afflicted person. The minimalistic, clean and spacious environment is instrumental in helping a person improve their focus and attention span.
• Reminisce therapy: It requires the family and friends to take part in the sessions and gently prod the patient’s memory with tales of their shared history.
• Cognitive stimulation therapy: The therapist engages the person in vigorous debates in the hope that it will staunch degeneration of brain cells.
• Neuropsychological treatment: This is also a very good treatment option which must be carried out by an expert psychologist. This can help the patient cope with the condition completely and live a healthy life.

Dementia is a devastating illness but with timely diagnosis and medicines and therapy, it can be reined in.