Different Types of Dementia
According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, there are over 100 forms of dementia. The most well-known variety being Alzheimer’s disease. * While millions of people live with dementia, what differentiates one type from another? Even though you or your loved one may not be dealing with dementia at this time, it’s important to be aware of the different signs and symptoms. Today, we will take a look at a few of the most common types of dementia, the characteristics that make them similar, as well as the markers that distinguish one from another.
While there are many different forms of dementia, some of the most common are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementia.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that affects behavior, memory, and thinking. Alzheimer’s disease is progressive, and it worsens over time. There are several stages within Alzheimer’s. In early stages, memory loss can be quite mild, but by the time one reaches late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, they lose the motor skills and cognition required for conversation, daily activities, and responding to the environment around them.
The most common symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty with retaining newly learned information. As the disease advances, it leads to increasingly severe symptoms including mood and behavior changes; disorientation; worsening confusion about events, time, and places; abnormal suspicions about family and friends, and even professional caregivers; as well as increased memory loss, difficulty with mobility, speaking, and swallowing. *
Vascular Dementia
Vascular dementia occurs when blood flow is inadequate. With vascular dementia, changes can sometimes occur suddenly after a stroke, which blocks major blood vessels in the brain. Cognitive difficulties may begin as mild changes that get worse over time as the result of multiple minor strokes or another condition that affects blood vessels.
While post-stroke symptoms might be more obvious, that’s not always the case. Post-stroke changes in thinking, which can indicate vascular dementia, may include confusion, disorientation, difficulty with walking and balance, sudden headaches, numbness or paralysis on one side of the face or body, and trouble with speaking/understanding speech. *
Dementia with Lewy Bodies
According to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, Lewy body dementias (LBD) impact more than 1.4 million people in the United States, and while many people are impacted by this disease, there is a lack of awareness (both individually and amongst medical professionals) regarding diagnostic criteria, symptoms, or even that dementia with Lewy bodies exits. Due to lack of awareness and education about dementia with Lewy bodies, people with LBD are often diagnosed differently at first. In fact, Lewy body dementia is the most misdiagnosed form of dementia. *
There are three common presentations that LBD can have. Some folks will start out with a movement disorder, which often leads to a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Other individuals will start out with symptoms of cognitive and memory decline, which are commonly mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease. Lastly, a small group will first present neuropsychiatric symptoms which can include hallucinations, behavioral problems and difficulty with mental activities. Regardless of the initial symptoms, all three iterations of LBD eventually develop very similar cognitive, physical, sleep, and behavior features.
Early and accurate diagnosis for LBD is essential; more education and research are urgently needed. The most common symptoms of LBD are:
Impaired thinking, such as loss of executive function (planning, processing information), memory, or the ability to understand visual information
Fluctuations in cognition, attention, or alertness
Problems with movement, including tremors, stiffness, slowness, and difficulty walking
Visual hallucinations
Sleep disorders, such as acting out one’s dreams while asleep
Behavioral and mood symptoms, including depression, apathy, anxiety, agitation, delusions, or paranoia
Changes in autonomic body functions, such as blood pressure control, temperature regulation, and bladder and bowel function
Frontotemporal Dementia
Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) refers to a group of disorders caused by progressive nerve cell loss in the areas behind your forehead (frontal lobes) or the area behind your ears (temporal lobes). Nerve cell damage caused by FTD can lead to loss of function in those regions of the brain, which then causes deterioration of a person’s behavior, personality, and language skills. There are variations to FTD, including Behavioral Variant FTD (bvFTD) and Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA).
Symptoms of bvFTD may include prominent changes in personality and behavior; changes in judgement, presence of empathy, and foresight.
Symptoms of PPA feature the loss of ability to understand or formulate words into a spoken sentence.
While only rough estimates exist, there may be between 50,000 and 60,000 people living with frontotemporal dementia in the United States alone. *
Worldwide, more than 55 million people are living with dementia. * Being able to recognize the signs of different kinds of dementia is the first step toward being able to advocate for the people we love.
*Sources
1. Alzheimer’s Disease International
https://www.alzint.org/about/dementia-facts-figures/types-of-dementia/#:~:text=There%20are%20over%20100%20forms,of%20dementia%20being%20Alzheimer's%20disease.
2. Alzheimer’s Association https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers
3. Alzheimer’s Association https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-dementia/types-of-dementia/vascular-dementia
4. Lewy Body Dementia Association https://www.lbda.org/10-things-you-should-know-about-lbd/
5. Alzheimer’s Association https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-dementia/types-of-dementia/frontotemporal-dementia
6. World Health Organization https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia