Pinpointing the starting point for common types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, could lead to better overall treatment of the disease and a higher quality of life for longer periods of time. Doing this has proven to be very difficult, though. Unfortunately, many diagnoses don’t get made until the disease has been present for quite some time.
Although there is no cure for many types of dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease, early interventions can often be quite helpful when it comes to allowing patients to live a better life. If dementia isn’t diagnosed until later on, slowing the spread of it and helping the person suffering becomes much more difficult.
Current research is trying to make this a bit more beneficial for seniors fighting dementia. A team from the University of Helsinki focusing on Lewy body dementia found that this type of dementia might actually start years before symptoms become apparent. The team posited that the disease most likely forms during the middle age years–long before typical dementia symptoms become apparent to others.
Lewy body dementia is the second most common type of dementia, second only to Alzheimer’s disease. And like many forms of dementia, there’s no cure and it is degenerative in nature. The disease doesn’t go away and it gets progressively worse over time. That means that focusing on quality of life and managing symptoms is the best practical method for treating those that are struggling with this type of dementia.
The team published their findings in the journal, Annals of Neurology.
There’s a lot more research needed when it comes to identifying, diagnosing, treating, and curing dementia. Lewy body dementia, Alzheimer’s, and many other forms of dementia do not have cures at this time–we need all of the understanding we can gain of what these diseases are and how they act within the human body is vital if we are going to give the people suffering the care and support that they deserve. Hopefully, this research helps bring us a step closer to this.
In the meantime, the right senior care might help you to give the people that you love a better life as they age. Caring for a loved one with dementia is not easy. In addition to being physically draining, it also can take a toll on people emotionally. Unfortunately, there are a lot of families that go through this, without much relief in sight.
Having a team on your side that can help make care a bit easier can take away this pressure. Professional memory care is a big benefit for some.
Memory care can be administered in a variety of ways. We believe that in-home care is one of the most helpful methods. It keeps people in their own homes and can help enable families to stay together. Instead of having a loved one move into a care facility, you all can get the help that you need right where you are. If you have questions about how memory care can help, please feel free to get in touch with us.
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