The Alzheimer’s Society talks risk, factors, prevention and myths vs. reality when it comes to dementia
Last week the Gordon Howard Centre hosted Samantha Holland, Regional Coordinator of the Interlake-Eastern region for the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba. She presented information about Understanding Dementia and Brain Health. This discussion brought more knowledge to our community about the latest research with regard to dementia and the different forms of dementia that people may experience.
Holland opened the presentation by talking about her own connection to dementia. Having two grandparents who have been diagnosed with dementia she allows her experience to inform the work that she does on a daily basis.
“Dementia itself is not a disease, but a collection of symptoms that are caused by diseases of the brain,” explained Hollard.
In her presentation, she discussed the four most common diseases associated with dementia. There are over 100 different diseases and mixes of diseases connected to dementia so many people’s experiences differ.
“Alzheimer’s disease, as I said, being the most common accounts for about two-thirds of all cases. So, when you hear people using the words dementia and Alzheimer’s interchangeably, they are actually different. We can say that everyone with Alzheimer’s disease has dementia, but not everyone with dementia has Alzheimer’s disease,” said Holland.
Alzheimer’s disease has a progression of on average eight to ten years between when we notice symptoms and the time of the patient’s death though there is a large amount of variation from person to person. It has a more gradual presentation and though we are not sure why, it does present more often in women.
Another common type of dementia that was touched on was Lewy Body dementia. This is a dementia that’s associated with Parkinson’s disease and affects both men and women roughly evenly.
“You might see more changes relating to a person’s movement, their behaviour and how they change in potentially experiencing hallucinations, whether that’s auditory or visual [with Lewy Body dementia],” said Holland.
Frontotemporal dementia is a bit on the rare side and can affect younger people in their 40s and 50s even in their 30s. As the name suggests this disease affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain and has corresponding effects.
“[Frontotemporal dementia] really manifests in personality and behaviour changes. So, things that are really uncharacteristic for the person and because it can happen in the younger years, it might happen when the person is still working or has children at home. Maybe they’re making financial decisions that wouldn’t have been normal for them in the past. This might also be [an instance when a] person loses their filter in social situations,” she said.
The final type of dementia discussed was vascular dementia. In this type of dementia, cardiovascular occurrences like strokes can cause sudden drops in function.
“You might see drastic changes and then a stabilization or a plateau over time. Then another stroke occurs, and another drop in functioning. So, it kind of goes along in that stepwise fashion,” said Holland.
She reassured residents with questions that not everyone who experiences a stroke has vascular dementia.
She also explained that it’s a myth that memory loss is the first sign of dementia. Dementia occurs when daily life is affected and because there are many different signs can be different depending on the person and the cause. Some signs to look out for include:
- changes in cognitive abilities including changes in judgment or decision-making or problems with abstract thinking
- changes in communication
- trouble completing things that they’ve done for most of their life
- putting things in inappropriate places
- changes in emotion, mood and behaviour
- apathy
Holland explained that most diseases that cause dementia don’t have a genetic link, however, some conditions that increase the odds of getting dementia can be genetically linked like diabetes or increased blood pressure.
She then went through a list of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for dementia. She said that people should be reassured that the list of non-modifiable factors is much smaller than modifiable factors.
Non-modifiable factors can include age, gender, family history, and a gene called the Apo E4 gene which, though most cases aren’t genetically linked, is a genetic factor that increases risk
Modifiable dementia risk factors include things like hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, high alcohol consumption, and hearing loss.
“If there’s one takeaway, it’s the fact that what’s good for your heart is good for your brain. So, if you can think of a heart-healthy diet, it’s going to be working twofold for you,” said Holland.
Another thing that residents can consider when it comes to lowering their risk of encountering dementia in their lives is increasing their protective factors. These include doing things that challenge us such as learning a new activity or increasing the difficulty of a current one, being socially active, making healthy food choices like following a diet recommended for reduction of risk, being physically active, reducing stress, managing cardiovascular risk and protecting your head from getting hurt.
“No single test can tell if a person has Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. There’s not one way to diagnose it, but I would say the first step is to talk with your family doctor,” said Holland.
She does, however, acknowledge that many doctors are retiring so that can be difficult for some people to navigate, also some doctors may not understand the severity of symptoms even when you go to them.
Holland recommends continuing to advocate for yourself and your loved ones. Another avenue to diagnosis could be through a community assessment program. Our community assessment program is the mental health team.
If you or someone you know has dementia the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba has many programs that can help. They provide supportive counselling for people with dementia and their care partners, family education, programs like Minds in Motion, and public awareness sessions. To learn more about dementia and the services that are offered through the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba visit their website at https://alzheimer.mb.ca/.
If you think that you or someone you care about is showing signs of dementia you should contact your primary care provider or in the Selkirk area you can contact the mental health team at 204-785-7752 for an assessment.
