Dementia is not a specific disease. It is an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms which is associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills which is severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities.
With a no known cure, there is increasing evidence that steps can be taken to try to reduce people's risk of dementia as experts warn that "it is not inevitable part of ageing".
The most common type of dementia is the well known Alzheimer's Disease which could take up to 50% up to 80% cases. And another type of dementia is Vascular Dementia, which occurs after a stroke. There are also other many conditions that can case symptoms of dementia which includes some reversible such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies.
Dementia is often incorrectly referred to as "senility" or "senile dementia", which reflects the formerly widespread but incorrect belief that serious mental decline is a normal part of aging.
According to the 2015 British Social Attitudes survey, "the lowest level of knowledge is exist in relation to high blood pressure and diabetes"-with just 15% realizing that high blood pressure can increase the chance of getting dementia and just 14 percent of people actually know that diabetes are likely to get dementia as well.
In the United Kingdom there are around 850,000 people living with dementia and with that number predicted to exceed 2 million by 2050 and that is according to Public Health England.
There are some things that you need to know about dementia. One is that dementia is not a disease. It is also not an inevitable part of getting older. It is not just merely a memory loss. It is possible to live an independent and active life with dementia. Dementia has a bigger impact to women. It is also a global issue. It doesn't discriminate. There are no treatment to stop the diseases that causes dementia. Investment in dementia research is low.
There are some symptoms of dementia and some of them are slower thinking, difficulty in recognizing people, feeling lost in new places and losing track of time.
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