You probably sometimes confuse them: dementia and Alzheimer’s. However, there is really a difference between the 2. We explain what that is.
Dementia
Dementia: more than 290,000 people in the Netherlands have it. Yet we regularly confuse dementia and Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer Nederland explains that Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia. Dementia has many forms, in addition to Alzheimer’s there are more than 50 diseases that fall under the term. All forms of dementia affect the brain and cause a person’s mental health to deteriorate. In dementia, the nerve cells, or the connections between these cells, break down in the brain. Because these cells decline, the brain deteriorates. This causes a person to become very weak on both a mental and physical level over time. The 1st thing that often stands out about dementia is memory loss.
4 most common diseases
Of all diseases that fall within the dementia category, 4 are the most common. These are Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Lewy body dementia. All 4 ensure that the brain is affected, only the cause is different for each disease and the course is also different.
Also read: The number of people with dementia will double in the next 20 years, see tips on how to recognize it and help the best
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Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. About 70 percent of patients have this. The disease often begins in the part of the brain responsible for memory. Then it spreads further. When more parts are affected, the number of symptoms will also increase. People then become even more forgetful and have difficulty controlling emotions, speech and language.
Amnesia
It is not yet fully understood what causes Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists do think it has to do with a number of changes in the brain. For example, it is a bad sign if the protein amyloid builds up in the brain between nerve cells. This can happen when the blood-brain barrier, a network of special cells that forms around blood vessels in the brain, doesn’t allow the amyloid protein to get from the brain into the blood. If this is not successful, a kind of plaque is formed in the brain that makes communication between brain cells more difficult. These accumulations often arise first in the part of the brain that is responsible for memories. Therefore, a 1st symptom of Alzheimer’s is usually memory loss.
Faster reverse
To ensure that the amyloid protein does not build up, the brain contains glial cells. These break down the amyloid protein. However, scientists also see a downside. They notice that the disease process can be accelerated when these cells do that too much and are too aggressive.
Cells die
Protein amyloid thus plays an important role in Alzheimer’s disease, but this is not the only protein that does this. In people with Alzheimer’s, a tangle of a different protein is formed. These are called tangles. Within these tangles is another protein called tau. Tau is harmful and takes abnormal forms in Alzheimer’s disease. This blocks the supply of nutrients within the brain cells, causing them to die. As a result, the number of symptoms increases.
Also read: Thinking together in a life with dementia
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Treatments for dementia
Despite the fact that so many people are dealing with dementia and so much research is being done, there is no cure yet. According to the website Thuisarts.nl, an initiative of the Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG), medicines also do not slow down the disease process or keep memory for longer. However, there are treatments that are offered, such as memory training and occupational therapy. However, this has not been proven to reduce dementia.
(Source: Alzheimer Nederland, Thuisarts.nl / Photo: Shutterstock)
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