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Other Types of Dementia

Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia. Dementia is the progressive decline in congnitive function due to damage or disease in the brain, beyond what might be expected from normal aging. However, there are several other types that can affect memory, attention, problem solving, and language.

Multi-infarct dementia or Vascular Dementia

Multi-infarct or Vascular Dementia (VD) is the second most common type of dementia. It is caused by lesions in the brain’s blood vessels. People who have suffered strokes are 9 times more likely to develop this type of dementia than people who have not had a stroke. Vascular dementia is more common among men and the risk for it increases with age. Other risk factors include hypertension, smoking, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and high cholesterol.

The disease initially begins by affecting the patient’s cognitive and motor abilities, and behavior. Often patients become apathetic, disoriented and experience urinary incontinence.

The best way to manage the disease is by preventing further lesions in the brain. Antiplatelet drugs and controlling the risk factors (hypertension, cholesterol, smoking, ect.) can be successful in managing the progression of the disease.

Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is a mixture of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It is characterized by abnormal protein clumps found throughout the brain, which are called “Lewy Bodies”. These bodies are similar to what is found in the brains of Parkinson’s patients. Patients with this type of dementia also experience a loss of neurons, similar to what is found in Alzheimer’s patients.

The symptoms of DLB includes cognitive decline, memory impairment, vision problems, loss of alertness and attention, hallucinations, Parkinson-like tremors, loss of consciousness, and sleep disturbance.

Treatment is difficult because when treating motor problems, hallucinations worsen and when treating hallucinations, tremors worsen. So a balance must be struck between motor and cognitive symptoms by balancing out antipsychotic drugs and cholinesterase inhibitors.

Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD)

FTLD is another type of dementia. There are three variations of FTLD:

1. Frontotemporal dementia is the when the frontal lobe of the brain is slowly destroyed. The frontal lobe plays a part in impulse control, judgment, language, memory, motor function, problem solving, sexual behavior, socialization and spontaneity. It also assists in planning, coordinating, controlling and executing behavior. People with this type of dementia often become withdrawn, make inapropriate (often sexual) comments, exhibit inappropriate behavior, and are unable to perform skills that require planning. This devastating disease often strikes around the age of 40-50. It cannot be cured, but can be managed by depression medication and supportive services.
2. Semantic dementia affects verbal and non-verbal memory and is often incorrectly characterized as a language disorder. It initially presents itself in patients with word finding difficulties. Patients forget the meaning of words, and eventually there are personality and behavioral changes. There is no cure and supportive care is essential.
3. Progressive nonfluent aphasia affects speech. Patients can become hesitant in speech, have difficulties with certain sounds, begin to stutter, and eventually become mute. Other cognititve functions are usually not affected until much later in the disease process, when problems with reading, writing and behavior can occur. There is no cure and supportive care can be helpful.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is caused by a unique infectious agent called a prion, an abnormal protein. Other prion diseases include scrapie, Mad Cow disease, and chronic wasting disease. The prions kill the brain’s normal nerve cells. Under a microscope, tiny holes can be seen, giving the brain a “spongy” appearance.

This rare disease affects only 1 in 1 million people, generally aged 60-65, per year. In more than 85 percent of cases, patients with CJD live less than a year after the initial onset of symptoms. Symptoms are rapid dementia, memory loss, personality changes and hallucinations. These are accompanied with physical symptoms such as jerky motions, changes in gait, seizures, rigid posture, and balance and coordination problems.

As of September 2006, there is no cure for CJD. It is a fatal disease and the search for treatments continues.

Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s is a rare inherited neurological disorder affecting up to 8 people per 100,000. It is first noticed by physical symptoms, such as jerky, random, uncontrollable movements. It can lead to cognitive and psychiatric problems. Children of people with Huntington’s have a 50 percent chance of inheriting the disease. There is a blood test that can show whether a person has the gene for the disease or not. It can be managed through medication, nutrition, and therapy.

Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s is a degenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system. Symptoms include: tremor, problems with gait, impaired ability to swallow, mood disturbances, slow reaction time, sleep disturbances, sensation disturbances, and other adverse health affects. Dementia develops later in only about 20-40 percent of all patients.

Other Less Common Causes:

• HIV infection, which leads to AIDS dementia complex.
• Head trauma.
• People with Down’s Syndrome have an increased risk at developing Alzheimer’s.