Medical A-Z – dementia

DEMENTIA

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a range of symptoms caused by different diseases that affect the brain including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia. Some people may have a combination of different types of dementia, which is commonly referred to as mixed dementia (Alzheimer’s Society, 2021; Dementia UK, 2021).

Dementia is a progressive condition that gets worse over time, as more nerve cells die and the brain starts to shrink. Symptoms commonly include problems with memory, thinking, problem solving, language, visual perception, and changes in mood. However, each person will experience dementia differently, depending on which parts of the brain are affected and the type of disease causing the dementia (Alzheimer’s Society, 2021; Dementia UK, 2021).

Dementia mainly affects people over the age of 65 and the risk of developing it increases significantly with age. When someone develops dementia before the age of 65, this is referred to as ‘young-onset dementia’. According to Alzheimer’s Society, there are more than 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia, 42,000 of whom are living with young-onset dementia (Alzheimer’s Society, 2021).

ORTHODOX TREATMENT

There is currently no cure for dementia and many of the diseases that cause it are sadly terminal.

Conventional treatment, including prescribed medication, is likely to vary according to the type of disease causing the dementia, how advanced the disease is, the type of symptoms being displayed and potential side-effects (NHS, 2021; Alzheimer’s Society, 2021).

Drugs used to help temporarily reduce the symptoms of dementia include donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon), galantamine (Reminyl) and memantine. Antidepressants may be prescribed to reduce anxiety and depression, and where challenging behaviour is an issue and it cannot be managed using different coping strategies, antipsychotics may be prescribed. For more information about dementia, visit alzheimers.org.uk, dementiauk.org and nhs.

uk/conditions/dementia

COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY

n Aromatherapy and agitation A small pilot study recently conducted across five residential care sites in Australia looked at whether topically-applied, individualised essential oil preparations showed any promise in alleviating agitation in people with dementia (Leach et al, 2021). The study findings ‘highlight some promising effects […] and indicate that a large multi-centre, cluster-randomized controlled trial of this treatment is feasible’. n Massage, other non-drug interventions and depression A systematic review and network meta-analysis published in British Medical Journal showed that 10 nondrug interventions ‘were as, or more, efficacious than drug interventions for reducing symptoms of depression in people with dementia and without a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder’ (Lassell et al, 2021). The 10 non-drug interventions cited were animal therapy, cognitive stimulation, exercise, massage and touch therapy, reminiscence therapy, multidisciplinary care, occupational therapy, cognitive stimulation and a cholinesterase inhibitor, exercise combined with social interaction and cognitive stimulation, and psychotherapy combined with reminiscence therapy and environmental modification. Read the full article at fht.org.uk/IT-139-research-

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n Horse riding, gardening and wellbeing A small study that involved eight people with dementia taking part in adaptive gardening or adaptive riding interventions found that both activities supported emotional wellbeing and quality of life. The authors concluded that ‘adaptive riding appeared to support longer durations of active participation with more complex forms when compared to adaptive gardening’ and therefore ‘more research is needed with a larger sample size to further examine similarities and differences’. Read the full article at fht.org.uk/IT-139-

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NB: The information provided in this article is not a ll encompassing and intended as an overview only. It should not be used for the purposes of diagnosis. Members or clients presenting with any symptoms should always consult a GP or other relevant health practitioner. The advice of a doctor, pharmacist or other suitably qualified person should be sought before taking any form of medication or treatment.

References

For full references, go to fht.org.uk/IT-references