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Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform everyday activities. This typically involves problems with memory, thinking, behavior, and motor control. Aside from memory impairment and a disruption in thought patterns, the most common symptoms of dementia include emotional problems, difficulties with language, and decreased motivation. The symptoms may be described as occurring in a continuum over several stages. Dementia ultimately has a significant effect on the individual, their caregivers, and their social relationships in general. A diagnosis of dementia requires the observation of a change from a person's usual mental functioning and a greater cognitive decline than might be caused by the normal aging process.
Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a type of dementia characterized by changes in sleep, behavior, cognition, movement, and regulation of automatic bodily functions. Memory loss is not always an early symptom. The disease worsens over time and is usually diagnosed when cognitive impairment interferes with normal daily functioning. Together with Parkinson's disease dementia, DLB is one of the two Lewy body dementias. It is a common form of dementia, but the prevalence is not known accurately and many diagnoses are missed. The disease was first described on autopsy by Kenji Kosaka in 1976, and he named the condition several years later.
Apathy, also referred to as indifference, is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical, virtual, or physical life and the world. Apathy can also be defined as a person's lack of goal orientation. Apathy falls in the less extreme spectrum of diminished motivation, with abulia in the middle and akinetic mutism being more extreme than both apathy and abulia.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), also called frontotemporal degeneration disease or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of the brain's frontal and temporal lobes. Men and women appear to be equally affected. FTD generally presents as a behavioral or language disorder with gradual onset. Signs and symptoms tend to appear in late adulthood, typically between the ages of 45 and 65, although it can affect people younger or older than this. Currently, no cure or approved symptomatic treatment for FTD exists, although some off-label drugs and behavioral methods are prescribed.
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty moving the eyes, and cognitive impairment. PSP may be mistaken for other types of neurodegeneration such as Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The cause of the condition is uncertain, but involves the accumulation of tau protein within the brain. Medications such as levodopa and amantadine may be useful in some cases.
In neurology, semantic dementia (SD), also known as semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of semantic memory in both the verbal and non-verbal domains. However, the most common presenting symptoms are in the verbal domain. Semantic dementia is a disorder of semantic memory that causes patients to lose the ability to match words or images to their meanings. However, it is fairly rare for patients with semantic dementia to develop category specific impairments, though there have been documented cases of it occurring. Typically, a more generalized semantic impairment results from dimmed semantic representations in the brain.
In neuropathy, primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a type of neurological syndrome in which language capabilities slowly and progressively become impaired. As with other types of aphasia, the symptoms that accompany PPA depend on what parts of the brain's left hemisphere are significantly damaged. However, unlike most other aphasias, PPA results from continuous deterioration in brain tissue, which leads to early symptoms being far less detrimental than later symptoms.
The Philadelphia Flower Show is an annual event produced by The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and traditionally held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in early March. It is the oldest and largest indoor flower show in the world, attracting more than 250,000 people annually. It has also been described as "the country's oldest, largest, and most prestigious celebration of flowers."
Martin James Schreiber is an American politician, publisher, author, and lobbyist who served as the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 1971 to 1977, and as the 39th Governor of Wisconsin from 1977 to 1979. Schreiber has become an advocate on issues related to Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a rare neurodegenerative disease involving the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia. CBD symptoms typically begin in people from 50 to 70 years of age, and typical survival before death is eight years. It is characterized by marked disorders in movement and cognition, and is classified as one of the Parkinson plus syndromes. Diagnosis is difficult, as symptoms are often similar to those of other disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, and dementia with Lewy bodies, and a definitive diagnosis of CBD can only be made upon neuropathologic examination.
As populations age, caring for people with dementia has become more common. Elderly caregiving may consist of formal care and informal care. Formal care involves the services of community and medical partners, while informal care involves the support of family, friends, and local communities. In most mild-to-medium cases of dementia, the caregiver is a spouse or an adult child. Over a period of time, more professional care in the form of nursing and other supportive care may be required medically, whether at home or in a long-term care facility. There is evidence to show that case management can improve care for individuals with dementia and the experience of their caregivers. Furthermore, case management may reduce overall costs and institutional care in the medium term. Millions of people living in the United States take care of a friend or family member with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.
Emma Frances Heming Willis is a British-American model, actress and businesswoman.
John Quinn Trojanowski was an American academic research neuroscientist specializing in neurodegeneration. He and his partner, Virginia Man-Yee Lee, MBA, Ph.D., are noted for identifying the roles of three proteins in neurodegenerative diseases: tau in Alzheimer's disease, alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's disease, and TDP-43 in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal degeneration.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens, and is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, self-neglect, and behavioral issues. As a person's condition declines, they often withdraw from family and society. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death. Although the speed of progression can vary, the average life expectancy following diagnosis is three to twelve years.
Sundowning, or sundown syndrome, is a neurological phenomenon associated with increased confusion and restlessness in people with delirium or some form of dementia. It is most commonly associated with Alzheimer's disease but is also found in those with other forms of dementia. The term sundowning was coined by nurse Lois K. Evans in 1987 due to the timing of the person's increased confusion beginning in the late afternoon and early evening. For people with sundown syndrome, a multitude of behavioral problems begin to occur and are associated with long-term adverse outcomes. Sundowning seems to occur more frequently during the middle stages of Alzheimer's disease and mixed dementia and seems to subside with the progression of the person's dementia. People are generally able to understand that this behavioral pattern is abnormal. Research shows that 20–45% of people with Alzheimer's will experience some variation of sundowning confusion. However, despite lack of an official diagnosis of sundown syndrome in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), there is currently a wide range of reported prevalence.
A therapeutic garden or wellness garden is an outdoor garden space that has been specifically designed to meet the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of the people using the garden as well as their caregivers, family members and friends.
Caregiver syndrome or caregiver stress is a condition that strongly manifests exhaustion, anger, rage, or guilt resulting from unrelieved caring for a chronically ill patient. This condition is not listed in the United States' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, although the term is often used by many healthcare professionals in that country. The equivalent used in many other countries, the ICD-11, does include the condition.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) is a nonprofit organization that promotes horticulture-related events and community activities. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of 2021, PHS has more than 13,000 members.
The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care is a non-profit organisation, with branches in Canada and Australia, dedicated to knowledge dissemination and education that focuses on improving the quality of lives of seniors living with dementia by using the visual and performing arts.
Rahul Desikan was an Indian-American neuroscientist and neuroradiologist. He was an Assistant Professor of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, Neurology and Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and co-director of Laboratory for Precision Neuroimaging. Desikan's achievements became publicly known in a Washington Post article detailing his lifelong commitment to preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease and his continuing work as a scientist living with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Desikan was vocal about the need for increased awareness and research funding for ALS, and voiced his unique perspective as both ALS researcher and ALS patient in op-ed articles appearing in a regular column in the Washington Post as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle and Scientific American.
References
- ↑ "PGN - Philadelphia Gay News". Epgn.com. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ "Event Design Magazine Best Practices April 2009" (PDF). Docs.wixstatic.com. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ "Archives - Philly.com". Articles.philly.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ "2012 Philadelphia Flower Show Hits March 4-11 With Hawaiian Theme, Special Effects, CGI Waves & More..." Uwishunu.com. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ Event Design Magazine Best Practices April 2012
- ↑ "Please wait while you are redirected". Mobile.philly.com. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ "The 2014 Philadelphia Flower Show Opens with Stunning Installations, Performances, and Classes - Architectural Digest". Architecturaldigest.com. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ "The Philadelphia Flower Show Celebrates the Movies - Architectural Digest". Architecturaldigest.com. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- ↑ Radin, Gary; M.D, John Q. Trojanowski (27 March 2008). Radin, Lisa (ed.). What If It's Not Alzheimer's?: A Caregiver's Guide to Dementia. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1591025849.