Dementia per se is not a disease. It's a collection of symptoms that result from damage to the brain caused by other different diseases like Alzheimer's disease. The symptoms may start mildly and gradually worsen. In most situations, those around you and even yourself may not consider them seriously and may take them to be within the normal range.

Don't assume that it's a natural process or stage in aging. Victims should seek medical attention. Typically, dementia is a name used to describe or represent the decline in cognitive abilities including memory loss, deteriorating cognitive skills, organization, and planning among others.

It's important to realize that dementia affects people differently and my progress at different rates for different people.

1Alzheimer's disease and dementia

It's one of the most common causes of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in the UK. Its cause is unknown but risk factors include age, family history, and lifestyle factors. The risk of

Alzheimer's disease and dementia increases with age usually above 65 years. It's estimated that in every 14 people over 65,1 suffers, 1 in every 6 people over 80 years suffers and one in 20 people under 65 years are affected by Alzheimer's disease. Common symptoms of

Alzheimer's disease include memory complications, which include forgetting names, places, and even common faces. Loss of short-term memory ie asking questions repetitively, decreased organization and planning, confusion in unfamiliar environments and surroundings, difficulty finding the right words in conversations, anxiety, and being withdrawn mostly because of the insecurities.

2Vascular dementia and dementia

This is the second most common cause of dementia. It's a common type affecting around 150,000 people in the UK. It's caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. Some people may show symptoms of both Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. With vascular dementia, memory loss symptoms may come later.

Its symptoms can be quick or gradual even stretch over the years. Specific symptoms of vascular dementia are movement problems, thinking difficult ie attention, muscle weakness, or temporary side paralysis.

Like all other types of dementia, there is no specific cure but they are approaches such as medication or therapy to slow down the process and ease the symptoms. Treatments will treat the underlying causes which may reduce the loss of brain cells.

Experts may recommend incorporating habits such as eating healthy, losing excess weight, keeping fit, and avoiding drug and substance abuse by taking medications. Vascular dementia is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain which damages the brain cells. These happen for possible reasons;

• Narrowing and blockage of the small blood vessels inside the brain.

• A single stroke where the blood is suddenly cut off to the brain.

• A series of mini-strokes that cause tiny but widespread damage to the brain.

These problems are at times caused by underlying conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes and management of these conditions can improve your chances and slow down the process if you already have symptoms of dementia.

3Dementia with Lewy bodies

This is one of the common causes of dementia. Symptoms specific to this type of dementia are hallucinations; seeing, and mentioning non-existent things, confusion that can randomly change tremors; uncontrollable movements of limbs shaking, fainting spells, unsteadiness, etc.

Dementia with Lewy bodies disease is caused by clumps of protein forming inside brain cells. These abnormal deposits are called Lewy bodies. It's not clear why they develop or how they cause brain damage but some experts believe that these clumps of proteins hinder the transfer of chemical information between cells. Normally, the condition affects people randomly but in some situations, it seems to run in families.

4Frontal lobe frontal temporal dementia

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia for individuals below 65 years old but a higher percentage may develop frontotemporal dementia.

Symptoms of frontotemporal dementia include personality changes; the person becomes a cold and uncaring attitude, lacks social awareness; is withdrawn and apathetic, makes rude comments, has difficulty finding the right words or understanding them, and develops fads for unusual foods.

There are a few different systems used to grade dementia. The most basic there is, moderate and advanced. Many providers use dr. Barry Reinsberg'a of New York which includes seven stages. It focuses primarily on cognitive abilities.

Stage 1. Cognitive Decline. At this stage, there is no noticeable cognitive impairment.

Stage 2. Very Mild Cognitive Decline. The changes will be mildly noticed. These individuals have very basic signs of degeneration and in most instances, they can be attributed to other factors like health or aging.

Stage 3. Mild Cognitive Decline. Those around you may start to notice the change in cognitive abilities like trouble focusing, working, or organization. According to Dr. Barry, this stage usually occurs seven years before the onset of dementia.

Stage 4. Moderate Cognitive Decline. In this stage the signs are obvious and the patient has difficulty remembering names or details in situations. New environments are challenging and they will be withdrawn. Specialists usually detect dementia at this stage.

Stage 5. Moderately Severe Cognitive Decline. At this stage, the effects are well-pronounced and the person may not be able to take care of themselves. They will need assistance to navigate daily life. Their memory is quite impaired.

Stage 6. Severe Cognitive Decline. The patient during this stage requires assistance to complete daily living activities. Noticeable changes like difficulty in speech, personality changes, and delusions may start to kick in.

Stage 7. Very Severe Cognitive Decline.This is the last age and normally patients would have lost the ability to walk, and communicate and will need help with everything.

There is currently no cure for dementia but medicines are available that help relieves some of the symptoms. Other approaches like cognitive stimulation therapy may also be able to support your memory health. These conditions and other symptoms may make attending to daily activities hard and eventually, patients may not be able to look after themselves.