Written by Ivana Galea
How many times have you observed your 60-year-old father going through street after street in order to find parking, only to forget where he parked an hour later? How many times does your Grandmother confuse your name with your cousin?
The word ‘dementia’ is not a rare term nowadays. A lot of research has been conducted to understand the origins of this disorder, but misconceptions still exist. Dementia is also one of the most prominent social conditions that affects the Maltese society and it is on a steady increase.
What is Dementia?
Dementia is essentially a general term used to describe the lack of thinking abilities caused by a group of neurodegenerative disorders like for example, Alzheimer’s disease. These disorders cause abnormal brain changes that, in turn, cause Dementia.
Dementia is caused by damage to brain cells from the original diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc.). These disorders do not allow the proper connection between nerves in the brain, and so, by time these lose contact and lead to a decline in the general cognitive capabilities. Since the brain has different regions that are responsible for specific things, the cells of that particular area could become damaged. Dementia can also be caused by mental disorders such as depression as well as medication side effects and alcoholism.
For example, in Alzheimer’s, memory loss is one of the earliest symptoms. This is because the hippocampus (the area of the brain that controls memory and learning) consists of the earliest brain cells that are damaged.
Symptoms of Dementia
The onset of dementia generally occurs at around 65 years of age. Unfortunately, early-onset could show as early as 30 years. Signs vary from person to person. Common indications include (but are not limited to): forgetting keys, forgetting the stove on as well as problems with short-term memory loss like forgetting a hospital appointment. Many of these are progressive, that is, the symptoms start showing slowly and gradually get worse. For some people, this could mean years, but for others, it could be mere months. Other examples are being inappropriate in public places, psychosis (like false beliefs or hallucinations), wandering around without a particular destination, and sudden bursts of physical aggression.
Unfortunately, there is no test to confirm whether a person has dementia. Doctors usually base their conclusions on carefully examining the person’s medical history, laboratory tests, and changes in their thinking and day-to-day abilities.
Neuropsychologists specialise in studying the connection between the physical brain and behaviour and so, their assessments can be extremely useful in the detection, diagnosis, and management of dementia syndromes. They are designed to identify the extent and severity of the patient’s cognitive and behavioural deterioration.
Having a relative diagnosed with dementia can be very hard on the rest of the family and their friends. They need to prepare themselves for their relationship to change and having to adjust to a completely different personality. The demented person will start to repeat themselves like for example recounting the story about their wedding 5 times a day, find it hard to focus on the matter at hand and get less patient.
Dementia in Malta
In Malta, dementia care is based at St Vincent de Paul Long Term Care Facility. This residence has invested in dementia-friendly wards as well as offering professional training with regards to this condition to staff to enhance the level of care. There is also the dementia day centre, which provides a programme of activities to individuals with dementia that are still capable of living in the community along with respite services for their caregivers.
