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This article debunks the misconception that dementia only affects the elderly, highlighting young-onset or early-onset dementia. It explains the condition's impact on memory, thinking, and behavior, emphasizing that it's a syndrome caused by various underlying conditions. The article also provides statistics on prevalence, risk factors, and the global health implications of dementia.
While age is a major risk factor, dementia can also occur in younger individuals. Among younger people, the condition is known as young-onset or early-onset dementia.Dementia is a term used to describe a group of symptoms that affect memory, thinking, behaviour, and the ability to perform everyday activities.
It results from damage to brain cells and is most often progressive, meaning symptoms worsen over time. Dementia is not a single disease but a syndrome caused by various underlying conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, or frontotemporal dementia.and damages the brain, leading to deterioration in cognitive function. That is, the ability to process thought. The deterioration in cognitive function is often more pronounced than what might be expected from normal ageing. However, while consciousness is not affected, this decline in mental ability is often accompanied, and sometimes preceded, by changes in mood, emotional control, behaviour, or motivation.While the condition is most commonly associated with ageing from around 65 years and above, it can also affect people in their 30s, 40s, or 50s. Young-onset dementia affects about 119 out of every 100,000 people worldwide between the ages of 30 and 64,that dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death globally. As of 2021, around 57 million people had dementia worldwide, and more than 60 per cent of them live in low-and middle-income countries.WHO alsothat there are nearly 10 million new cases yearly. According to the global health body, various factors contribute to the development of dementia, depending on the underlying type, especially among younger people. These factors can be grouped into modifiable and non-modifiable factors. Non-modifiable risk factors are those that cannot be changed or eliminated, such as ageing, family history, genetics, and even gender.suggestsThis study also suggests that biological and hormonal factors increase women’s vulnerability to Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Modifiable factors, on the other hand, can be changed. One of the most significant is cardiovascular health, according to the WHO. The global health body highlighted conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and smoking as risk factors for dementia. These conditions impair blood flow to the brain, leading to damage in the blood vessels that supply it. Over time, this damage may lead to vascular dementia, which results from a reduced oxygen and nutrient supply to brain tissue. Maintaining healthy blood pressure, controlling sugar levels, and adopting heart-healthy habits are therefore vital preventive measures.Dementia comes in different forms. According to the WHO, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form and contributes to 60–70 per cent of dementia cases globally. It is driven by an abnormal build-up of proteins in the brain, which disrupts communication between nerve cells. It typically begins with a gradual decline in memory and an increase in difficulty learning new information. Frontotemporal dementia, which is basically the degeneration of the frontal lobe of the brain, is also a common form of the condition. It most often affects younger people, usually starting in their 40s. It affects the front and side lobes of the brain, causing major changes in behaviour, personality, speech, and language before memory is significantly affected. Vascular dementia is another common form of dementia. It occurs when damage to blood vessels reduces blood supply to the brain, often following strokes or chronic cardiovascular problems. In this case, thinking speed, organisation, and problem-solving are usually more affected than memory in the early stages.Lewy body dementia is caused by abnormal deposits called Lewy bodies. People with this condition experience fluctuations in alertness, vivid visual hallucinations, and Parkinson-like movement symptoms such as stiffness or tremor. Other less common types include Parkinson’s disease dementia, Huntington’s disease dementia, HIV-associated dementia, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Each form progresses differently, but all involve a decline in cognitive ability that interferes with daily life.
Dementia Young-Onset Dementia Early-Onset Dementia Alzheimer's Disease Cognitive Decline
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