I think I'm losing my mind

The NHS seems to be full of older people most of the time. I suppose that's a side-effect of having a better health system and more developed medical technologies that is allowing people to live longer. We can now support organ systems almost indefinitely, through the use of ventilators and heart-lung machines, dialysis and transplants. The weakest link is one of the most important: the brain.

Your brain is what makes you who you are, and it controls all of the processes that go on in your body; from the secretion of cortisol, when you are stressed, to the contractions of your heart. If your brain breaks down, there's a great deal that can be done. Of all of the organs in the body, the brain is one of the ones we know the least about. It can morph and change following surgery or a stroke, and adapt and learn new processes, movements, feelings and experiences all the time.

Quite a remarkable thing really.

Which is why it is a catastrophy if someone gets dementia. Dementia is essentially a gradual decline in mental faculties that is due to cell death, more than what one would expect from the normal ageing process. Memories are lost, often the most recent ones first, and people can recede in age - sometimes believing they are waiting for their mother and father to come and collect them. Dementia so far has over a hundred identifiable causes, and only 10% are due to reversible causes.
From the Alzheimer's Society website:

• 700,000 people have Dementia in the UK.
• There are currently 15,000 younger people with dementia in the UK.
• There are over 11,500 people with dementia from black and minority ethnic groups in the UK.
• There will be over a million people with dementia by 2025.
• Two thirds of people with dementia are women.
• The proportion of people with dementia doubles for every 5 year age group.
• One third of people over 95 have dementia.
• 60,000 deaths a year are directly attributable to dementia.
• Delaying the onset of dementia by 5 years would reduce deaths directly attributable to dementia by 30,000 a year.
• The financial cost of dementia to the UK is over £17 billion a year.
• Family carers of people with dementia save the UK over £6 billion a year.
• 64% of people living in care homes have a form of dementia.
• Two thirds of people with dementia live in the community while one third live in a care home.

Clearly it's not something to be sniffed at. The major causes of dementia are Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Lewy Body Dementia and Vascular Dementia, with Alzheimer's being the most common cause. Even such diverse things as CJD and AIDS can cause dementia.

Dementia is often first noticed through difficulty to do simple tasks, such as putting a coat on or finding your keys. Tests can be undertaken like the mini-mental state examination which are a good indicator as they rigorously test different functions. CT scans and MRI's are also often done which can lead to diagnosis, although these do not always show the diffuse changes that occur.

Treatments include donepezil hydrochloride, galantamine, memantine hydrochloride and rivastigmine. The most famous of which is donepezil hydrochloride, Aricept. Some alternative therapies are also used, including music therapy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and aromatherapy. Discuss their effectiveness amongst yourselves. There is also talk of a special helmet that fires infra-red beams into the brain that can supposedly help. Sir Terry Pratchett, a famous author with the disease is trying it out. The Alzheimer's Society have reportedly said that it is an "interesting technique". Hmm.

There is no escape in the end, so I say just enjoy life. The majority of people with severe dementia are often sublimely delirious, sleep lots and have no worries. The worst thing is for those that are left behind.