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 DEFINITION
The demencias are syndromes neuropsicológicos (or sets of symptoms) with a symptom together essentially for his diagnosis: Incapability to learn new information (amnesia anterógrada) for a cognitive damage.
It is necessary to suffer loss of memory to be considered to be an insane person. Perhaps the most terrible thing is that although there is loss of memory, the conscience does not get lost with which these subjects suffer very much on having perceived his problem.
The dementia does not imply progressive and irreversible disorder. In the cases of severe traumatic cerebral injuries, as well as strong drug addictions, often they fit to the dementia criterion, although his cognitive functioning improves in the course of time. In these cases the called Robot law will be fulfilled: the most distant thing recovers earlier and later the most nearby thing without never going so far as to recover the immediately previous thing to the accident or illness. Nevertheless also there exist types of progressive and irreversible dementia as it is the case of the Alzheimer's disease.
It is believed that 15 % of the population older than 65 years suffers some type of dementia, coming to 40 % the biggest of 85.
LOSSES OF MEMORY
Not all the losses of memory can assume to demencias:
- Benign negligence senescente (or senile): Also called "affectation of the memory associated at the age". It is characterized by a loss of memory lightly superior to the "healthy thing". They are individuals older than 50 years who complain about problems of memory in the daily life, who in the memory tests present at least a deviation, and who do not go so far as to fulfill the criteria of a dementia.
- Pseudodementia: or dementia product of severe depressions, which are reversible. These subjects complain about frequent indecision, diminished concentration, slow prosecution of the information. They are persons who also suffer of anhedonia (lacking in pleasure) and idiomatic complaints (without confirmed cause).
PRECOCIOUS DIAGNOSIS OF THE DEMENTIA
- The simple "free memory" (after reading a list, repeating aloud,) is one of the most effective skills to distinguish the individuals demenciados of the healthy ones.
- A retrospective analysis of his life is also very useful since they are much more vulnerable persons with "flat" lives, with little interest in the culture, without love, without curiosity you worry little...
- Other skills exist like the priming, something similar to the game of the "hanged person" and other symptoms associated like the incapability to perceive smells.
FREQUENT ILLNESSES THAT BEAR DEMENTIA
- Alzheimer's disease: Progressive and irreversible dementia. The brain goes "wasting away" little by little of out inwards. It is affecting to areas like the olfactory bulb, this implies that many of these patients if they live alone tend to store garbage.
- Huntington: It is an illness neurodegenerativa hereditary of slow but precocious beginning, at the age of 40 (in fact there is 100 % of possibilities of transmitting it genetically if one is a bearer). It is characterized by involuntary movements of the extremities, lacking in coordination and a clear slope of the memory with difficulty for the attention and concentration and problems to plan activities. It is affecting to the judgment and to the reasoning and affective changes happen: tastes... The memory remains very affected but not so much the recognition.
- Parkinson: It is an illness neurodegenerativa with disorders of the movement. In 30 % of the cases there happen symptoms of dementia like slowness in the prosecution, unefficiencies of memory, poor planning, etc...
- Also it collaborates to other illnesses like the syndrome of Korsakoff (alcoholic syndrome), infections or cerebral infarctions.
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