The differences between Alzheimer's and dementia

Difference between Alzheimer's and dementia

Dementia is the main term. Alzheimer's is a special variant. The neurologist Alois Alzheimer first described Alzheimer's as an independent disease in 1906.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, incurable brain disorder with an unknown cause. Symptoms of this disease include memory loss, confusion and disorientation. In addition, there are changes in personality, impaired judgment and the loss of the ability to speak. Alzheimer's disease involves protein deposits, so-called plaques, in the brain, in the immediate vicinity of which the nerve cells die. As a result, the brain shrinks. It is the most common form of dementia. A distinction is made between the sporadic and hereditary forms.

Sporadic Alzheimer's disease:

Affects approximately 99.5 percent of all cases. Mostly late age of onset, from 65 years old. Age is the most important risk factor, with little influence of genetic factors

Hereditary Alzheimer's disease:

Familial Alzheimer's disease: Only affects around 1 percent of all cases. Early age of onset (between 30 and 60 years). The trigger is the causative mutation in three genes: APP (chromosome 21), presenilin-1 (chromosome 14) and presenilin-2 (chromosome 21 ) Carriers of these modified genes get sick 100 percent of the time.

There is no treatment that can cure Alzheimer's disease. People suffering from the disease today can only resort to medications that control the symptoms and/or slow the progression of the disease.

Alzheimer's disease is divided into 3 stages:

Early stage

In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, many patients tend to have a lack of motivation, but this is usually hardly noticeable. Minor memory gaps and mood swings occur, and the ability to learn and react decreases. The sick people close themselves off to new things and prefer what they are familiar with.

Speaking and thinking slows down. It can happen that patients lose the thread in the middle of a sentence, can no longer find their way around or forget to pay bills. Accordingly, the symptoms of the disease begin to affect work and everyday life more and more. When those affected become aware of their deficits, depression, irritability and restlessness can result.

Middle stage

At this stage the disease becomes obvious. Living an independent life is hardly possible anymore. Initially, patients can carry out tasks on their own, but need help in dealing with more complicated things. The people around them have to make clear requests and repeat them more and more often. The urge to move increases, speech and comprehension become increasingly slower, sufferers often repeat individual statements numerous times and lose their understanding of time and space. They increasingly recognize familiar faces worse. While the memory of the past remains with them for a long time, they remember the recent events less and less.

Late stage

In the final stages of the disease, Alzheimer's patients require around-the-clock care. Long-term memory dwindles, language skills are limited to a few words, and familiar people are no longer recognized. Chewing, swallowing and breathing become increasingly difficult, and there is also urinary and fecal incontinence. Due to the insufficient ability of their immune system to defend themselves, Alzheimer's patients in this stage often suffer from pneumonia, infections or other diseases. This late stage ultimately leads to death.

Vascular dementia accounts for around 15 percent of all dementias. Vascular dementia occurs due to a disruption in the blood supply to the brain. The cause is either a ruptured blood vessel (cerebral hemorrhage) or a blood clot (cerebral infarction). In both cases, brain tissue is destroyed by vascular dementia.

In addition to the sudden onset or sudden deterioration, neurological deficits are typical for vascular dementia. Hemiplegia, sensory disturbances, visual disturbances and clouding of consciousness occur. The risk of later suffering from vascular-type dementia is increased by all factors that lead to diseases of the blood vessels contribute.

Abnormal densification of brain cells also leads to dementia. This form is known as "dementia with Lewy bodies". Its symptoms are similar to those of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The cause of this form of dementia is currently unknown. Estimates of how many people are affected by dementia with Lewy bodies vary It is probably the third most common form. It is possible that the so-called dementia with Lewy bodies is not a separate disease, but rather a variant of Parkinson's dementia. In any case, both the symptoms and the findings of specific inclusion bodies in the brain cells are similar To distinguish one disease from another, the 1 year rule has been formulated:

If the movement control disorders typical of Parkinson's occur more than a year before dementia, it is referred to as Parkinson's dementia. If the dementia occurs before the movement disorders or in the first year after, it is referred to as dementia with Lewy bodies.

Frontotemporal dementia occurs somewhat less frequently than dementia with Lewy bodies. In her case, the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are affected. Since these brain regions are involved in controlling behavior and experiencing emotions, frontotemporal dementia becomes noticeable through early changes in personality structure. Behavior becomes detached. Inhibitions that have previously characterized the sick person's interactions with caregivers disappear. The sick person disregards social and moral norms. The personality structure becomes coarser. Cognitive disorders, such as memory loss or impaired thinking and judgment, only occur secondarily. Frontotemporal dementia develops just like Alzheimer's disease, slowly and progressively. Symptoms and side effects include fidgeting and restlessness, compulsive drive behavior, impulsivity, declining personal hygiene, slow loss of speech. Almost half of those affected have a parent, brother or sister who suffers from some form of dementia.

Secondary dementia

Some rarer dementias are classified as secondary dementias. They are triggered by depression, medication, alcohol addiction, thyroid disease or a vitamin deficiency. Unlike Alzheimer's and many other primary dementias, secondary dementias can sometimes be cured if the underlying disease is treated early enough.

The difference between primary and secondary dementia is that primary dementia originates in the brain.