Source: Dumb Little Man
Despite the notable dips in life expectancy in the United States in recent years, humans’ overall life expectancy is up. A hundred years ago, life expectancy in the U.S. was 48.3 for men and 51.1 for women. That is, of course, factoring in the exceedingly high rate of infant mortality people experienced back then.
Today, most people live well beyond childhood, their childbearing years, and even retirement. With this uptick in life expectancy has come an uptick in age-related illnesses. This makes it important that you do your research about dementia well.
What Is Dementia?
Part of the problem with treating and even diagnosing dementia is that it is not just a single condition with a single cause. The three most common forms of dementia are Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to tell which kind of dementia a patient has until after death when the brain can be examined.
Common warning signs of dementia include:
- Memory impairment
- Difficulty with speech and communication
- Loss of focus or attention
- Decreased vision
- Poor judgment
- Decreased reasoning skills
Dementia Is Incredibly Common
Between the ages of 65 and 74, your chance of developing dementia is only 3%. Once you make it to 75, your chances increase dramatically. That’s 17% between 75 and 84 years of age. When you hit 85, your chance of developing dementia jumps to a staggering 32%.
There are currently at least ten different known forms of dementia and post-mortem studies suggest that only 49% of diagnoses are correct.
To make matters worse, any form of treatment is…The post About Dementia: The Silent Epidemic appeared first on FeedBox.