Dementia: Understanding This Health Condition

Family members of seniors suffering from dementia sometimes find this condition extremely painful emotionally. Many health conditions experienced by elderly people result in brain damage that contributes to behavioral changes. Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, kidney disease, strokes and a variety of other health conditions sometimes produce dementia symptoms in older people.

A person suffering from dementia displays unusual impulsive, confused or even irrational activity. The individual may appear perfectly normal one minute, yet seem lost in the past or disoriented just a few moments later. Family members caring for an individual in this condition may require additional assistance from community or medical support services.

Expect Unusual Behavior

It remains very important to realize that a dementia sufferer has not fundamentally changed as a person. That individual simply no longer functions well in many situations. This fact means that caregivers must prepare potentially to handle a variety of challenging behaviors:

• People with dementia often suffer memory losses, especially regarding recent events, and they may become lost easily even within formerly familiar surroundings;
• A senior may lose the ability to maintain adequate levels of personal grooming, or to perform basic daily living activities, such as meal preparation, house cleaning, bathing, driving or dressing;
• Some seniors with dementia suffer from incontinence, others require assistance using the bathroom or eating;
• A dementia patient may forget familiar faces or words easily, and may repeat the same conversation or questions repeatedly;
• Seniors with dementia frequently lose the ability to manage money;
• A dementia patient may become irritable or agitated easily, and may act in an irrational manner or grow unusually emotional or garrulous without warning;
• Some seniors with this condition also suffer from hallucinations, sexually inappropriate behaviors, paranoia and other mental health symptoms.

Individual Differences

In some dementia patients, the symptoms of dementia occur sporadically. For instance, a senior may appear normal most of the time, yet become agitated or enraged when confronted with an unexpected event or schedule change. Other dementia patients grow progressively worse over time and gradually lose all the skills required to maintain independence.

For more information visit our website: Home Care Assistance Fort Lauder dale

Manpreet Singh Bhalla is associated with Home care Assistance of Fort Lauderdale, FL and he is happy to accomplish his passion for improving the lives of seniors through the written word.