Dementia Awareness
Dementia Awareness
Dementia is a word used to describe a group of symptoms including memory loss, confusion, mood changes and difficulty with day-to-day tasks. There are many causes of dementia.
The brain, along with the spinal cord, makes up the central nervous system, and it is this that controls all of our body’s functions. Within the brain there are billions of nerve cells that are known as neurons. These neurons communicate with each other and with other parts of the body by sending messages (impulses) via a system of nerve pathways. The brain sends signals to the body and to other parts of the brain in the form of electrical impulses. These signals travel along the neurons.
These electrical signals are necessary in controlling our bodily functions , for example, language, decision-making, memory, personality, behaviour, sensing and interpreting our environment, and controlling muscle movements. If the neurons and synapses of the brain become damaged by dementia they may have difficulty or be unable to carry the messages that tell the sections of the brain what to do. Depending on the area of the brain affected, this can result in changes to the way the individual thinks, or may result in physical impairments, personality and behavioural changes or the inability to perform certain functions. Depression, delirium and age-related memory impairment may be mistaken for dementia because they all share many of the same symptoms as dementia. Medical model for dementia would be when a persons memory is affected by a medical disease or a condition as a result of brain trauma which affects some area of the brain . When we are talking about the social model of dementia we bear in mind ‘the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the community on an equal level with others because of physical and social barriers’ and refers to being disabled as having an impairment defined as ‘the loss or limitation of
Dementia is a word used to describe a group of symptoms including memory loss, confusion, mood changes and difficulty with day-to-day tasks. There are many causes of dementia.
The brain, along with the spinal cord, makes up the central nervous system, and it is this that controls all of our body’s functions. Within the brain there are billions of nerve cells that are known as neurons. These neurons communicate with each other and with other parts of the body by sending messages (impulses) via a system of nerve pathways. The brain sends signals to the body and to other parts of the brain in the form of electrical impulses. These signals travel along the neurons.
These electrical signals are necessary in controlling our bodily functions , for example, language, decision-making, memory, personality, behaviour, sensing and interpreting our environment, and controlling muscle movements. If the neurons and synapses of the brain become damaged by dementia they may have difficulty or be unable to carry the messages that tell the sections of the brain what to do. Depending on the area of the brain affected, this can result in changes to the way the individual thinks, or may result in physical impairments, personality and behavioural changes or the inability to perform certain functions. Depression, delirium and age-related memory impairment may be mistaken for dementia because they all share many of the same symptoms as dementia. Medical model for dementia would be when a persons memory is affected by a medical disease or a condition as a result of brain trauma which affects some area of the brain . When we are talking about the social model of dementia we bear in mind ‘the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the community on an equal level with others because of physical and social barriers’ and refers to being disabled as having an impairment defined as ‘the loss or limitation of