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Dementia

This page is also available in Chinese and Punjabi

Overview

In Canada it is estimated that in the next 25 years, the number of Dementia diagnosis will dramatically increase as the average Canadian age increases. Dementia is defined as the declining of brain function. Many people over the age of 60 worry about memory loss. However, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are not just about memory loss.

Generally speaking, as people age, their memory capability will change. However, this change should not significantly affect the ability to carry out daily activities. If someone suffers from dementia, it will seriously affect the person’s ability to carry out his/her daily activities. In other words, as you age, it would not be surprising to forget the name of a person that you only met once or twice. However, if you forget the names of the people whom you are familiar with, then we would suspect that this symptom may be attributed to dementia.

Thus far, there is no cure for dementia. However, dementia patients can live longer and have a higher quality life through education, home care, and medication.

The chances of Chinese people suffering from stoke is slightly higher than Caucasians; but the chances of suffering from dementia is equally common among both populations. When evaluating Chinese Canadians for dementia, their first language, education level, work background, and cultural differences should be taken into consideration. Hence the evaluation should be conducted in Chinese to ensure its accuracy.

Content by Dr. Janet Kow, Geriatrician

Prevention

As people grow older, many become interested in ways to lower their chances of developing dementia. Although the cause and preventive measures of dementia have yet to be scientifically proven, there are certain lifestyle changes that could potentially lower the risk of developing dementia:

  1. Exercise – regular exercise will not only improve health and maintain physical fitness, but also reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis (the hardening of blood vessels walls). Arteriosclerosis can affect blood circulation in the brain, which is one of the causes of dementia. Studies have also shown that regular exercise can minimize the decline of brain function and the chance of developing dementia. Example of useful exercises include: brisk walking, jogging, biking, or swimming.
  2. Habits that prevent the development of vascular disease – the risk factors of heart-related disease (vascular disease) may also cause arteriosclerosis, which leads to the narrowing of blood vessels. This can affect the blood supply to the heart, brain, and other organs. If the blood flow to the brain is slowed down or stopped, it may cause a stroke which can lead to dementia. The practices that reduce the risk of vascular disease includes: not smoking, lowering cholesterol levels, controlling diabetes, controlling high blood pressure and maintaining a healthy body weight. Through these practices (especially reducing high blood pressure) together with preventive measures for stroke, the chances of developing dementia will be greatly reduced.
  3. Stimulating brain activities – studies have shown that engaging in activities that keep the brain active as we age can help improve memory and verbal ability. Therefore, participation in these brain-exercising activities and social activities could reduce the risk of developing dementia. Some examples of these types of activities include: solving puzzles, playing Mahjong, reading, keeping aware of current events, and other hobbies.
  4. Social life – studies have shown that a small social circle where a person has too few friends will increase the chances of developing dementia by 60%. A larger social circle appears to be effective in preventing dementia. So, it can be helpful to your mental health to continue to make new friends while still trying to keep in touch with old friends.
  5. Getting adequate sleep and reducing stress – poor quality of sleep and too much stress can affect memory. As people age, a proper amount of sleep (minimum of eight hours) may help prevent memory loss.

 Currently, many herbal formulas, vitamins, antioxidants and other drugs have claimed to prevent Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of evidence to show that these substances are effective.

 Content provided by Dr. Raymond Ma, Family Physician

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Signs And Symptoms

As Dementia is a broad term that includes many different diseases that affects a person’s brain function as listed below.

10 Warning Signs of Dementia

1. Memory loss that affects day-to-day function
2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks
3. Problems with language (i.e. difficulty finding right words and following a conversation)
4. Disorientation as to time and place
5. Impaired judgment (i.e. cannot make the right decision)
6. Problems with abstract thinking (i.e. reduced ability to understand, think, remember, and reason)
7. Misplacing things
8. Changes in mood and behaviour
9. Changes in personality
10. Loss of motivation or initiative

 

These symptoms will make it difficult to carry out daily task, such as cooking, driving, handling bills, shopping, and interaction with others.

The most common causes of declining brain function are due to dementia and stroke. Typically, dementia is brain dysfunction that continues to worsen over time. We suspect this phenomenon is caused by abnormal proteins in the brain. Although the root cause of dementia is still uncertain, we do know that the risk of developing dementia is higher for individuals that have high blood pressure, high cholesterol level and/or have a lower educational level. Once diagnosed, the majority of dementia patients will exhibit a decline in their conditions over the next 10 years and ultimately will have to rely heavily on the care given by family members or nursing home. At the final stage, dementia can lead to death.

Dementia patients often experience subtle changes in their ability to think but do not always appear to be different than an ordinary healthy person. Dementia patient may not be aware of their problems so the information provided by family members and friends is critical. Irritability, anxiety, and depression may accompany dementia but is not necessarily experienced by everyone.

Dementia patients are more likely to suffer from depression or prolonged sadness. This condition may lead to eating problems, sleep problems, and unexplained pain. These symptoms are hard to cure and may be caused by the changes and loss of function in the brain. Early detection of depression in older people is critical because depression can be cured. Through treatment, the quality of life of patients with depression can be improved.

If you, or a family member, have experienced certain changes that may be signs of dementia, you should contact your family doctor for an evaluation. Doctors and nurses will ask you in detail about your health or your family member’s health to confirm a diagnosis. If required the doctor may arrange for further evaluation and assessment (e.g. CT scan), or referral to a specialist (e.g. geriatrician, neurologist, or psychologist). Your local health department and Alzheimer society can also provide you with information and services.

Content by Dr. Janet Kow, Geriatrician

Living With Dementia

Diagnosis

Dementia can affect a person’s memory, thinking, or reasoning skills. These problems are generally referred to as “cognitive impairment” due to dementia. Other than affecting the cognitive ability of a person, dementia may also affect a person’s personality. Dementia patients may say or do certain things that are out of character. Patients will gradually lose the ability to care for themselves, eventually relying on others to carry out daily activities. In this case, dementia does not only greatly affect the patients but also their caregivers and family members.

Many people confuse the two terms dementia and Alzheimer as describing the same condition. A main characteristic of Alzheimer disease is the accumulation of Amyloid protein in the brain. The first symptoms are short term memory lost – forgetting recent incidents and conversations. As time progress, Alzheimer disease may impact the patients’ long-term memory (forgetting things that happened in the past), and affect their thinking abilities. Alzheimer’s disease is perhaps the most common form of dementia, but is not the only cause of dementia.

Dementia symptoms can progress rapidly but also in some cases the progression is slow. Generally speaking, it is normal for a healthy older person to complain about their poor memory; however, if the severity of the memory loss is enough to interfere with his/her basic daily activities, then a further evaluation should be conducted. Still, one of the challenges is the patient being unaware of his/her symptoms. A diagnosis often only occurs when family members and friends notice the change and persuade the person to seek medical advice.

The assessment of a dementia specialist is very useful for the diagnosis and determination of the cause of dementia. Although currently there is no cure for dementia, once diagnosed the appropriate treatment and support can be provided for the patients and their families. As a result, the patient is more likely to stay independent longer and live a higher quality of life.

During the evaluation of dementia, many different professionals will be involved, including: doctors, genetic counselors, nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, or social workers. They will work together to provide detailed information and reports for patients and their family members. This process will ensure that the patients and family members will receive help as needed.

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Generally, the diagnostic process is divided into four parts:

Collect information

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Evaluation of cognitive ability

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Physical examination

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Other examination

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The challenges that dementia brings are always changing. Health care professional will have the most up-to-date knowledge about dementia, so it is crucial for patients and families to receive their information and support.

Content provided by Dr. Philip Lee, Geriatrician

Clock Drawing Test

This is a common test used to screen for dementia and to track its progression.

In this test, the patient is first asked to draw a circle which will represent the face of a clock (in some cases, a printed circle is presented to him/her). Then the patient is asked to label the 12 numbers in their appropriate places and then draw the two hands of the clock to indicate the time of ten minutes past eleven.

Seemingly simple, the test examines a lot of the functions of the brain. The patient has to be able to:

  • understand and remember the instruction
  • plan and execute the instruction
  • be able to visually remember the image of the clock
  • be able to distribute the numbers around the clock evenly
  • be able to put the numbers and hands in the correct place
  • have enough concentration to finish the task.

It is easy to administer, takes only a few minutes and requires minimal equipment. Unlike the MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination), it depends less on language skill and education.

However, there are many ways of administering this test and there are at least twenty different scoring systems! Some are simple but some are very complicated. Nevertheless, all these different methods have been proven to be able to detect dementia.

The following is an example of one of the simpler ways of administering and scoring the test:

The patient will get one point for each correct action:

  • Able to draw a circle
  • Able to put in all twelve numbers in the correct order
  • Able to place the numbers in the correct place on the clock face
  • Able to draw the two hands on the clock
  • Able to point the two hands to the correct time

Four to five points indicate normal cognition. Further investigation into dementia will be required for those scoring less than 4 points.

Healthcare professionals also use this to track the progression of the dementia and have also used the different types of mistakes to distinguish between the different types of dementia.

Regrettably, with the common usage of the digital clock, this test may become less effective within the next couple of generations.

Written by Dr. Kenneth Chan

MMSE (Mini Mental State Exam)

This test has obvious weaknesses. It is language and education dependent. Luckily, the test has been translated into Chinese and the results have been scientifically proven. Still, the test requires the patient to have at least six years of education to be valid. Furthermore, the patient has to be able to write, read and hear properly. In addition, the test is unreliable in distinguishing between borderline normal and mild dementia and is unable to tell what kind of disease is causing the dementia.

Even though the test has its imperfections, ,it is easy to use and it does give a numerical score which makes tracking the progression of the disease easier.

Dementia remains a clinical diagnosis: the doctor needs to consider the entire picture – the patient’s behavior, physical/psychiatric findings, the history of his/her illness and laboratory/scanning results – in order to make a diagnosis.

The MMSE is considered to be another tool to help with the diagnosis of dementia.

Written by Dr. Kenneth Chan

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FAQ

Are there any correlations between a person’s education level and Alzheimer’s disease?

Generally speaking, people with less education have a slightly higher risk to develop this disease. However, there have also been diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease in highly educated people.

A senior in our family has been diagnosed with dementia and is being taken care of properly in a nursing home. However, the senior is often asking to come home, what should we do?

This is a common situation. Family members could encourage the senior with phrases like, “you can live here for now, once your condition improves and we have the doctor’s approval, then we can bring you home”. Ultimately the senior patient needs 24-hour care and nursing, which is something that the nursing home can provide. Therefore, this is providing the best you can for the senior. Loving a person is to give him/her what he/she needs, not necessarily what he/she wants. Family members should educate themselves about the pros and cons, and should not feel overly guilty about their inability to care for the person themselves.

Does playing mahjong prevent Alzheimer’s disease?

Playing mahjong is a type of brain exercise and so is helpful. However, physical exercise is equally important. You should not be playing Mahjong all day long and neglecting other activities, both physical and mental. Other brain exercises, such as, playing chess, solving puzzle, and reading, etc., are also helpful with Alzheimer’s disease prevention.

Someone in the family has been diagnosed with dementia 5 years ago, meanwhile he has been taking Aricept 10 mg. Recently, he started suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high uric acid as well. A month ago, he started having 7-8 bowel movements a day. Is this symptom caused by a worsening of his dementia?

According to medical research, the increased bowel movement is not a symptom associated with dementia. Aricept also does not have such side effects. The person may be suffering from gastrointestinal disease. You should bring him to a gastroenterologist for a detailed examination. Another reason could be that the patient requires multiple sittings on the toilet because he often leaves the toilet before he has completely finished his bowl movement.

How should I interact with a family member that has been diagnosed with dementia?

Family members will often be saddened in the case of a diagnosis of dementia in the family. We need to first understand that the patient is already sick, so do not argue or debate with him/her. For instance, if the patient says, “it’s time for dinner.” even if it is far from dinner time, we should still accommodate them by saying “yes, it will be dinner time soon.” After a while the patient may already forget what they have said. Therefore, being patient and loving is very important. At the same time, we need to understand that this sick family member is not the same as the family member that was healthy five years ago. Therefore, the family members should not feel guilty about not caring for them by themselves.

Is Mini-Mental Status Test (MMSE) suitable for Chinese elders that have lower levels of education?

There will certainly be some challenges. However, we can try our best to modify the contents of the test so it is suitable to their customs and level of education. For instance, for questions pertaining to date, month, and year, if the elder respond with dates in the lunar calendar, then we should verify the answer with the Western calendar and treat it as a correct answer if that is indeed the corresponding date.

Once diagnosed with dementia, what is the life expectancy of the patient?

Dementia itself does not reduce a person’s life span. However, the inability of the person to take care of themselves (forgetting to eat, being unaware of being sick, etc.) may reduce their life span. If the patient receives proper care, the average life span is 6-10 years after diagnosis.

Resources

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Webpage

BC’s local Alzheimer’s disease support and services.

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Document

Getting to Know Dementia: A Guide to Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care (2022)

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Workshops and Related Resources

March 5, 2022- [CHI] Chronic Disease Webinar: Answering your Questions About Dementia

On March 5, 2022 our panel of health professionals answered Q&A questions about dementia from audience who attended the December 2021 iCON Chinese Health Forum: “Take Charge of Your Health – Dementia 360.” Topics covered:

  • Dementia treatments
  • Virtual care
  • Medications
  • Mental health resources
  • Long-term care

Click here to watch recordings and related resources.

December 11, 2021- [CHI] Take Charge of Your Health: Dementia 360

iCON Chinese Health Forum: “Take Charge of Your Health: Dementia 360” took place on Saturday, December 11 and Sunday, December 12, 2021. In the webinar, you can learn:

  • Recognizing Dementia – early detection and when to seek help
  • Living with Dementia – nutrition and mental health, home safety
  • Where and how to find help in the community – navigation of health services, treatments and medications
  • Long Term Care – advanced care planning

Click here to watch recordings and related resources.

October 17, 2021- [CHI] Tips for Family Caregiver Looking After Dementia Patients

This webinar was targeted to families, caregivers and patients living with dementia, where they learned about:

  • How to communicate with patients with dementia
  • Recognize the stages of dementia
  • Where and when to seek support

Click here to watch recordings and related resources.