Sudden Onset Dementia

The first conclusion most people come when they hear about dementia and Alzheimer's is that it is basically something they will not have to worry about until they are much more older. However, dementia and Alzheimer's disease are not only the conditions of the elderly. There are cases of early onset Alzheimer's that have developed among people aged thirty to forty, but the majority of cases of early onset Alzheimer's is diagnosed when the patient is in his fifties.

Any diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease before the age of sixty-five years is considered early onset. Early onset Alzheimer's has been found to run in families. If a grandparent, people in the line of the family will have a greater change in early development of this disease and should be aware of the symptoms of this disease in its early stages. Early onset Alzheimer's is often misdiagnosed as a simple lack of motivation, forgetfulness or psychiatric problems.

Dementia is another disease that is often thought to only affect the elderly. There are different types of dementia that are not related to age at all. A frequent occurrence of dementia among younger people is due to a closed head injury. Accidents in motorcycles and four-wheelers without helmets then suffering an impact are among the main causes of closed head injuries among youth. Automobile accidents that result in closed head injuries are another factor in dementia praecox.

Current studies show the front of the skull where the frontal lobe of the brain is located is a factor in the early onset of dementia. The frontal lobe controls perception and is also responsible for impulse control, memory function in the short term and smell seem to be affected. One of the first symptoms of dementia early is often reported to phantosmia, or the hallucination of smell, usually in the form of rotting meat or bad body odor. The patient will spend a lot of time trying to locate the source of an odor, not knowing that it is an early symptom of a much larger problem.

Alcohol can be a contributor to dementia. Most people assume heavy drinkers pay for their lifestyle with liver problems. However, another aspect of heavy drinking is the alcohol-induced dementia, also called "wet brain" which is an incurable form of dementia often affects the terminal alcoholic. In short, the internal spaces of the brain become larger and cracks are created. The cracks fill with fluid and the result is confusion, impaired coordination and memory loss significant.

If you know someone showing signs of dementia or Alzheimer's urge to get a complete physical examination and talk about their symptoms to their doctor. Early symptoms include memory loss, mixing words on a regular basis, a sudden loss of attention span, language disorders such as searching for words commonly used to finish a sentence and suddenly feel disoriented when in a familiar place such as forgetting where the bathroom is in the house of a friend, they visited several times.

Dementia is not just a disease affecting the geriatric population. Anyone at any age can be affected by dementia. Know the warning signs early and rapid intervention methods that will be unique to each individual case, are an effective way to slow the progression of the disease so that the person can lead a healthy and productive life for a much longer long.