Geriatric Dementia Treatment and Care

Author: Chen Xinghua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Have you noticed such elderly people around you? After eating, they might turn around and forget they've already eaten, demanding to eat again. If family members try to persuade them, the elderly often feel they are being treated poorly. Some elderly people, even in familiar places, don't know where they are, and some, after going out alone, can't even find their way home. Others may refuse to speak all day and ignore any attempts at communication, rarely smiling. If you have such elderly people around you, we say this person may be suffering from late-life dementia. During this stage, if not treated, patients may further develop symptoms such as numbness in the head and body, sleep disturbances, tinnitus, and continued memory decline—forgetting what was just said, becoming disorganized, and even losing the ability to take care of themselves, including incontinence.
As people age, their memory, thinking, calculation, and language abilities may decline. Preliminary estimates suggest that there are approximately 4.5 million late-life dementia patients in China, accounting for an average of 3.7% to 3.8%, and the number continues to rise with age. Late-life dementia is commonly categorized into four types: First, senile dementia; second, vascular dementia; third, mixed dementia; and fourth, other dementias.
This book provides a detailed introduction to the classification of late-life dementia, common causes, pathogenesis, common treatments, and preventive measures, aiming to alleviate the difficulties faced by elderly patients and their families.