The Facts About Dementia -

The Facts About Dementia

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Alzheimers Disease is the Most Common Form of Dementia

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is a term for memory loss and other problems with thinking skills. Other types of dementia include:

An estimated five million Americans now have AD, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Nearly twice as many women have AD as men do, according to theHealth Resources and Services Administration. AUniversity of California San Diego study found that AD worsens more quickly in women than it does in men. The study also showed that brain shrinkage was more severe in women with AD than in it was in men with the disease. It didn’t explain why this happens, but researchers guess that brain changes in women with AD may be due to other causes.

Heart disease can raise the risk of getting AD. Other conditions that can cause heart disease and are linked to a higher risk of getting AD include:

Heart disease may also be a cause of vascular dementia, a type of dementia that results from narrowed blood vessels in the brain.

Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. In 2010,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)reported that it claimed more than 83,000 lives. Only heart disease, cancer, some breathing diseases, stroke, and accidents caused more deaths than AD. About one in three seniors die with AD or another form of dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

A person with AD may lose their sense of smell, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).Several studies, including one in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences, suggest that changes in the sense of smell may be an early sign of AD. It’s important to note that changes in your ability to smell may also be due to other causes such as: