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Different Types of Dementia

This video clip describes the different types of dementia (time: 1 minute 45 seconds).

 

 Did You Know about these free resources available to persons with dementia and their families?
Help Finding Memory Care / Assisted Living
Help Finding In-Home Care
Medicaid Eligible Test (for long term care)

 

There are approximately 70 different types of dementia in which one can be diagnosed. While Alzheimer’s disease is the most commonly diagnosed dementia, accounting for more than 50% of all diagnoses, proper diagnoses is extremely important. This is due to the fact that while some dementias cannot be reversed, others can indeed be reversed. Without proper medical diagnosis, an individual may be suffering from a reversible dementia without ever knowing it, and hence, may be suffering unnecessarily. In addition, all dementias do not progress at the same speed and the advancement of the disease does not always present in the same way.

In this day and age, dementia can be diagnosed with 90% accuracy, and as mentioned above, Alzheimer’s disease is the most commonly diagnosed dementia. In an individual with this type of dementia, one’s brain cells are affected by the disease, which results in cognitive issues. In the second most commonly diagnosed dementia, Multi-infarct Dementia, also referred to as Vascular Dementia, cognitive impairments result from small strokes in one’s brain. This is an issue with blood supply, and if the brain cells do not receive the oxygen and nourishment they need from the blood, they will die. The stages and the progression of Vascular Dementia are not as predictable as those with Alzheimer’s disease.

While each type of the more than 70 types of dementias is slightly unique in itself, it is also true that each type of dementia also has similarities. This means that if someone knows how to help an individual with one type of dementia, they are also able to help those with other types of dementia. But again, proper diagnoses is still key, as some types of dementia can be reversed. As the video states, “People deserve a chance. We want to make sure we give it to them.”

This video clip describes the different types of dementia (time: 1 minute 45 seconds).

Learn about the different types of dementia including Alzheimer’s, Vascular, Frontotemporal, Lewy Body, Huntington’s and Creutzfeldt-Jacob.