Talk:Dementia

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I thought it would be interesting/significant to mention that those who know more than one language are likelier ot develop dementia later.

It is relevant to keeping the mind exerciced.

The research is discussed in an article found in the following link:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=60646

Factfarmer3000 06:53, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Chat

Do ya think it is possible to halt the decline of people with dxsxtia by giving them love and attention? I do.

My name is Monica Mariniello and I do believe love and attention can help those suffering from dementia like me. It has worked wonders in my life. I'm a new woman.


I understand that it is possible for dementia to arise out of deprivation of activities that require cognitive thought. This would include human contact.

Perhaps this should be mentioned in the article?

I was redirected here from Senility, and this page does not so much as mention the word. I would like to know if the definitions are one and the same, or what the difference is.

--203.217.18.196 15:08, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Yes: there is something about social networking and being connected to individuals that helps persons cope with this illness. there also be a biologic mechanism of social stimulation. new article just came out in Journal of American Geriatrics that documents this. We could put this in based upon this article by lopez, will work on it, but first need to finish a wiki article on informed consent, also check out my blog at http://stefanospantagis.net/journal/Culturejamstef

[edit] Types


(...)
Vitamin B6 (thiamin) deficiency

F Vitamin B6 is NOT thiamin. What is meant ?

  • Vitamin B6 (pyridoxal) deficiency
  • Vitamin B1 (thiamin) deficiency


Thanks
Eras-mus 23:54, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Why was the addition of Lyme Disease as a type of subcortical dementia removed? Given that 80,000 cases a year in Europe and 20,000 in the USA are being diagnosed every year with this disease, it seems to me to be as important a differential as Syphilis.

Damwiki1 (talk) 08:09, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] False dementia

With regards to the recent addition of a "false dementia" section on this page, I understand this phenomenon to be more often called delirium, which is already mentioned elsewhere in the article. The distinction beteween dementia and delirium is an important one, and more development of this theme would be valuable. However, I think the use of terminology needs to be consistent, and the discussion of delirium and its relationship to dementia should be brought together into one place. sallison 09:25, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

In my vocabulary delirium is something really really bad. Do you really say that each and every weak old person who gets a urinary tract infection gets delirium? Still, I am not that familiar with the English terminology so I take your word for it. I have tried and merge the info on the two places in the article. I am sure it can be improved though. / Habj 18:04, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

Delirium is serious, but to call it "really really bad" is perhaps a bit over the top. Effectively it is the occurrence of psychotic symptoms (hallucinations and delusions, typically worse at night) as a result of an organic brain problem, which may be poisoning, infection, withdrawal of medication or various other things (e.g. electrolyte disturbances). The distinction is indeed vital, because delirium is readily treatable with removal of the precipitants and sometimes antipsychotics and benzodiazepines. Dementia, while it may be worsened by these causes, is not typically reversible in such a fashion. JFW | T@lk 22:37, 1 October 2005 (UTC)

agreed with JFW on all counts. sallison 03:32, 2 October 2005 (UTC)
Absolutely agreed on the reversibility criterion, which was why I added the subsection in the first place. There is a common observation that dementia patients get better by improvement in daily life, and relatives often don't realise that this can not affect the disease progression. Most dementia symptoms are not psychotic, like the typical malfunctioning memory regarding thing that happened recently (not childhood memories etc) and desorientation. I sincerely doubt that most dementia patients suffer from clinical delirium, but most dementia patients have a false dementia a.k.a. pseudo-dementia on top of the neurological disease that makes the day-to-day-status worse, but that can be improved. I haven't spent much time googling, but one of my first hits is this article talking about pseudo-dementia caused by depression which usually has nothing to do with psychosis. [1] I do suspect we are actually talking about different things, and that both aspects deserve a space in the article. I should check more sources to find good ways of putting it, though. / Habj 13:42, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Dementia or Mental Confusion

I would like to place a link to this page from the Complications section of the article on Hip fracture (& others). However, I note there is another article on Mental confusion which seems less clinical and more descriptive of thought processes (possibly including my own!). Is it your opinion that the type of Confusion commonly encountered after hip fracture is properly dementia so the link should be to here? --Mylesclough 05:25, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] So which is it?=

"dementia, by definition, is irreversible. . . . Probably less than 10% of all dementias are reversible"

What?? -Branddobbe 08:18, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

I removed the absolute statement; it didn't make any sense given the context around it. -Cymsdale 10:14, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

parkinson's is listed as a less common cause of dementia. the more recent epidemiology on parkinson's dementia would tend to indicate that perhaps 80 percent of parkinson's patients ultimately go on to develop dementia. i've also seen it listed as the second most common cause of dementia in individuals over age 50. I am willing to find documentation for this; i'd like to move PD from the "less common" list to the "more common list."Bldavids 15:29, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Suggestions for more content

What about Wernicke's encephalopathy, and Korsakoff's syndrome?

And I happen to be looking for a full list of the aetiology of dementia. Would be very grateful for any pointers/links to such a list.

Thanks

[edit] Disorientation

With regards to disorientation I'm taking the week part out of time - it's disorientation to not know the day of the week, maybe day of the month, but how many people can tell you which week of the year it is?

[edit] Cerebral Health Website

As director of the cerebralhealth.com website, I would like to offer an appeal to the editors of this page to include a link to either the homepage at http://www.cerebralhealth.com or to the Brain Research and Information Network (B.R.A.I.N.) at http://www.cerebralhealth.com/neuroscienceresearch.php

[edit] "Senile"

"Senile dementia" is a common term in the UK (at least) and I was surprised that this article did not include or explain the phrase, especially when the entry for "senile" redirects to this article.

When used on its own, the word "senile" (on its own) means 'physical or mental infirmity associated with old age' but in common use (again, in the UK at least) it refers specifically to generic dementia. Is it possible for someone (with more expertise than I have) to include the term in an appropriate place? Mrstonky 19:20, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Colloquial use of 'demented'

The word 'demented' is used (in the UK at least) as a colloquial and non-PC insult for someone who is considered stupid or slghtly mad. I've also encountered terms like "herd of demented elephants" used. Could someone add a note to this effect to the article, please? I'd rather not do it myself as I'm not enough of an expert on this particular piece of vernacular. Sidefall 13:52, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 16:25, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Senility

Considering the words "senile" and "senility" both redirect here and that both are quite common terms, surely the article should at least mention these words in passing? Thedreamdied (talk) 15:59, 13 April 2008 (UTC)