Alzheimers disease and Dementia Disease - Essay Example

Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia Disease Outline The aging population in the United s has been improving with the result in the greater number of people suffering from age related pathologies. Dementia is one of the most important diseases of the elderly. Dementia is sometimes confused with Alzheimer’s disease. Both the conditions are different from each other as Alzheimer’s disease serves to be the most frequent cause of dementia but there may be other pathologies leading to dementia. Dementia may occur due to infections and other pathologies of the nervous system like Huntington’s disease.

70 percent of cases of dementia result due to Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease may result without any underlying cause or it may be due to a genetic predisposition. Final Essay With the increase in the aging population of the United States, the burden of diseases that become more pronounced with age has increased. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease lie in this category of diseases and these are disorders which need great attention. This is owing to the fact that these conditions severely hamper the living of an individual as the diseases lead to a reduction in the memory accompanied with alteration in the cognitive capabilities of the patient.

This can serve to result in increasing the load on the healthcare system and affect the efficiency of the healthcare services. The terms dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are used interchangeably by a few people but there is a significant difference between these terms. Dementia is a broad term which refers to the alteration in the memory along with diminished cognitive function but the person stays conscious and episodes of unconsciousness are not normally witnessed. Dementia results owing to many etiological factors and many pathological diseases can lead to the condition.

The highest incidence of dementia occurs due to Alzheimer’s disease. This clearly highlights the most important difference between the two conditions that is Alzheimer’s disease may be a causative factor for dementia (Brown et al 2003; Kumar et al 2007; Plassman et al 2007). Dementia is a pathological condition which has a wide range of causative factors. According to the International Classification of Diseases-10, the causes of dementia are categorized as dementia occurring due Alzheimer’s disease, dementia due to vascular pathologies, idiopathic dementia and dementia due to pathologies like HIV, multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s disease.

Dementia is not merely a disease but it is rather a syndrome. This is due to the fact that it affects many of the major systems of the human body. It is known to alter the cortical activity of the brain and it may result in decreased memory, difficulty in processing of thoughts, difficulty in speech and understanding, alterations in abilities to comprehend and loss of decisive capabilities. The damage that occurs due to dementia cannot be reverted and it mainly occurs in the elderly people. In the year 2002 in the United States, it was estimated that dementia affected approximately 3.

4 million people above the age of 71 years (Brown et al 2003; Plassman et al 2007). Alzheimer’s disease has been highlighted to be the most frequent disease that results in dementia. In the United States in the year 2002, the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease was approximated to be 2.4 million for people above the age of 71 years. These figures indicate that greater than 70 percent of individuals who suffer from dementia have Alzheimer’s disease as the underlying pathology. Dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease mainly affects the parietal and temporal lobes of the brain whereas there may be dementia associated with frontal and temporal regions of the brain as well.

Alzheimer’s disease results in lack of capabilities to orientate, reduction in memory and lack of understanding and speaking language. The condition mostly occurs without any underlying cause but a few cases may be attributed to genetic predispositions (Brown et al 2003; Kumar et al 2007; Plassman et al 2007). Dementia is a wide ranging disease that may occur due to many underlying factors and pathological conditions. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for the most frequent reason of dementia. Out of all the cases of dementia, 70 percent are attributed to Alzheimer’s disease.

Thus it can be said that dementia is a broader term which encompasses the pathological disease of Alzheimer’s but it may be associated with other reasons as well. First Draft With the increase in the aging population of the United States, the burden of diseases that become more pronounced with age has increased. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease lie in this category of diseases and these are disorders which need great attention. Dementia results owing to many etiological factors and many pathological diseases can lead to the condition.

The highest incidence of dementia occurs due to Alzheimer’s disease. This clearly highlights the most important difference between the two conditions that is Alzheimer’s disease may be a causative factor for dementia (Brown et al 2003). Dementia is a pathological condition which has a wide range of causative factors. According to the International Classification of Diseases-10, the causes of dementia are categorized as dementia occurring due Alzheimer’s disease, dementia due to vascular pathologies, idiopathic dementia and dementia due to pathologies like HIV, multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease has been highlighted to be the most frequent disease that results in dementia (Brown et al 2003; Kumar et al 2007). Works Cited Brown, Jeremy, and Jonathan Hillam. Dementia: Your Questions Answered. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2003. Kumar, Vinay, Abul K. Abbas, Nelson Fausto, Richard N. Mitchell. Robbins Basic Pathology. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders/Elsevier, 2007. Print. Plassman, , Langa, Fisher, Heeringa, Weir, Ofstedal, Burke, Hurd, Potter, Rodgers, Steffens, Willis, and Wallace.

"Prevalence of Dementia in the United States: the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study."Neuroepidemiology. 29 (2007): 125-132. Print.