1. What are the causes and symptoms of dementia?
Dementia is a medical condition whose incidence rate increases as society ages. Dementia itself is not a disease name but a word that expresses the patient’s symptoms. There are countless causes of this condition. Dementia is classified as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), vascular dementia, and Parkinson’s disease, depending on the cause (DeNoon, 2004). Among them, AD dementia shows the highest rate, at more than 60%. Typically, the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is hyperphosphorylation of Tau when amyloid beta accumulates in the brain. Hyperphosphorylated tau forms a neurofibrillary tangle and irreversible brain cell loss causes dementia symptoms (Clarkson, 2021). Symptoms of dementia include decreased memory, decreased judgment, personality change, and loss of computational ability.
2. Why should we study dementia?
Dementia usually has an asymptomatic response for more than 15 years. Although it is in the early stages of dementia, people, including those with dementia, tend to think they are normal because they are asymptomatic. Fifteen years later, when symptoms of dementia appear, it is too late to treat. Therefore, we need to study dementia in order to predict dementia and make an early diagnosis at a stage where brain cell loss is low. In addition, since there is no cure yet, only an early prediction of the disease is an underlying solution to suppress the onset of dementia. So, we have to continue to study to quickly diagnose the cause of dementia.
3. What are the problems of dementia in an aging society?
Currently, our society is entering an aging society as the average life expectancy is extended and medical technology is developed. More than 60% of dementia is AD, and AD is a senile disease. In other words, society ages more due to extended life expectancy, and the number of dementia patients continues to increase. The most serious thing is that no cure has been developed yet. Therefore, as the number of dementia patients increases, the part that the state is responsible for also increases.
4. What are the prevention and treatment of dementia?
According to statistics, diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure are major causes of dementia (CDC, 2019). In addition, the age at which a person may acquire dementia is decreasing due to environmental changes. Therefore, if we manage and treat diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, we can reduce the incidence of dementia. Currently, the treatment method is being treated using antibodies that remove tau and amyloid, which are the causes of dementia. But this treatment doesn’t work. Dementia is failing effective treatment despite its high potential for treatment and continues to be studied.
5. Conclusion
The causes of dementia are very diverse, and it can be seen that the types of dementia are separated according to this cause. With the increase in life expectancy and the development of medical technology, it has entered an aging society and the incidence of dementia has also increased. In the future, the biggest problem in an aging society will be dementia. However, since the only cure for it is to slow down the progression through early prediction, this dementia is a problem that the world must solve together in the future.
6. References
– DeNoon, D.J. (2004). Types of Dementia. [online] WebMD. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/alzheimers-dementia [Accessed 29 July 2022].
– Clarkson, J. (2021). Amyloid and tau: the Proteins Involved in Dementia — DPUK. [online] www.dementiasplatform.uk. Available at: https://www.dementiasplatform.uk/news-and-media/blog/amyloid-and-tau-the-proteins-involved-in-dementia [Accessed 29 July 2022].
– CDC (2019). The Truth About Aging and Dementia. [online] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/dementia-not-normal-aging.html [Accessed 29 July 2022].
