What Is Dementia? Stages, Types, Treatments, & Care

Dementia vs. Alzheimer's Disease: What the Terminology Means

The difference between dementia and Alzheimer's disease is that dementia is a general category of symptoms and Alzheimer's disease is a specific disease diagnosed within that overall category. Dementia is an umbrella term for several types of disorders that involve life-disrupting cognitive decline. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, but many other forms also exist.

So a person can have dementia without having Alzheimer's disease. A person can also have multiple kinds of dementia (a condition known as "mixed dementia"); Alzheimer's disease may be just one of them.

In short, a person with Alzheimer's disease has dementia. But a person with dementia doesn't necessarily have Alzheimer's disease. Either way, the outcome is usually the same. A person with dementia retains consciousness but progressively loses their mental abilities, leading to a severe inability to perform basic daily activities. Memory, communication, reasoning, and motor functions can all be affected.

The Most Common Types of Dementia

It's essential to understand the differences between various dementia types to give the patient the appropriate care. But pinpointing what kind of dementia a person has can be challenging since different forms of dementia often have overlapping symptoms. In many cases, a completely accurate diagnosis can't be made until a patient passes away and an autopsy is performed.

Here are the most common forms of dementia you should know about.

Other Forms of Dementia & Dementia-Like Illnesses

In addition to the types of dementia outlined above, it's a good idea to know about some other conditions that can cause or mimic dementia. For instance, many adults develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Having MCI means that, for their age, they have slightly greater-than-expected difficulties with speech, memory, or decision-making. However, those problems don't yet rise to the level of dementia. Other people may develop dementia or dementia-like symptoms as a result of conditions like:

• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD): Also known as spongiform encephalopathy, this rare type of dementia is associated with memory problems, vision problems, impaired judgment, and difficulties with physical coordination. It usually progresses rapidly and leads to death within about a year.
• Huntington's disease (HD): This genetic disorder progressively destroys a person's brain cells, causing deterioration of their mental and physical function. It's incurable. Most people who get this disease first notice symptoms between the ages of 30 and 50.
• Parkinson's disease (PD): People with this degenerative movement disorder gradually have more trouble talking, walking, and carrying out other simple activities. Since PD affects a person's brain cells, it can sometimes cause various symptoms of dementia.
• Multiple sclerosis (MS): Cognitive decline happens to some people with MS, but it's generally less severe than what people experience with the most common types of dementia.
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome: This condition is caused by not having enough vitamin B1 (thiamine) in your body, often resulting from alcohol abuse. It can lead to permanent brain damage and many dementia-like symptoms, including lack of physical coordination, vision problems, memory loss, delusions, and other forms of mental decline.
• Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH): People with this condition have excess fluid in the brain, leading to various dementia-like symptoms. But unlike most of the other conditions on this list, NPH can often be successfully treated with surgery, resulting in nearly full recovery.
• HIV/AIDS-related dementia: Some HIV/AIDS patients experience cognitive decline or deterioration of their motor functions due to HIV damaging their brain cells or causing too much inflammation in their brains or spinal cords.

Causes and Risk Factors

Did you know that dementia is not a normal part of getting older? It's true. Old age—by itself—does not cause dementia. However, old age is one of the top risk factors for dementia since most people who suffer from it are older than 60. But as you'll see, there are at least 20 potential causes of dementia, which should be more accurately referred to as risk factors. For most types of dementia, the root cause remains somewhat of a mystery. Plus, what causes dementia in one person may differ from what causes it in someone else.

For now, the best that researchers can say is that a wide range of medical, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors may cause Alzheimer's or dementia of other types. But the genetic component brings up a good question: Is dementia hereditary? Here's the answer: It depends. Most forms of dementia are not hereditary—at least not in any direct way. Most dementia patients don't have any parents or grandparents who had the condition. However, some rare forms of dementia can be passed on to children or grandchildren. They include:

• Familial Alzheimer's disease: This type of early-onset dementia accounts for about one percent or less of all Alzheimer's patients. It's an inherited form of the disease that strikes before the age of 65. In rare cases, it can even strike very young adults or teenagers.
• Huntington's disease: People who inherit even one copy of the faulty gene responsible for this disorder will eventually get the disease.
• Inherited forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD): As many as half of all FTD patients may have inherited mutated genes that contribute to their conditions.

In a small minority of patients, genetics play a very direct role in the pathophysiology of dementia. But what about the greater majority? What might contribute to the development of dementia in everyone else who gets it? We already know that old age and family history are top risk factors. But as dementia research progresses, all kinds of additional risk factors continue to be linked with an increased chance of developing dementia.

None of the following risk factors guarantee that a person will get dementia, but they can make it more likely. Here are some of the biggest factors worth knowing about:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Strokes
• High cholesterol
• Heart infection
• Obesity
• Traumatic head injury
• Brain inflammation
• Down syndrome
• Parkinson's disease
• Some autoimmune diseases
• Depression
• Prolonged stress
• Smoking
• Alcohol abuse
• Drug abuse
• Poor diet
• Lack of physical activity
• Social isolation
• Intellectual boredom
• Low educational attainment
• Excessive exposure to certain chemicals or minerals

Some researchers have also found a link between proton pump inhibitors and dementia. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a class of medications used for treating a variety of gastrointestinal illnesses such as chronic indigestion, ulcers, and acid reflux. They work by reducing the amount of stomach acid a person produces. A JAMA Neurology study found that among frequent, long-term users of a PPI, dementia was 44 percent more likely to develop than among those who only took a PPI occasionally. So a link may exist between PPIs (like Prevacid, Nexium, Aciphex, Protonix, and Prilosec) and dementia, but taking one does not guarantee that you will develop a cognitive disorder. It's just one more risk factor.

Some researchers believe that hearing loss and dementia may be linked. Cognitive decline may speed up when an older adult loses a significant amount of their hearing. The constant strain of trying to hear and understand what's being said may put too much stress on the brain or even affect a person's brain's structure at the cellular level. Plus, social isolation is a risk factor for dementia, and hearing loss can make people want to avoid going out or socializing.

What to Look For: Early Signs of Dementia

Since dementia usually comes on gradually, it's easy to miss the early indicators. Plus, some types of dementia start damaging a person's brain long before any symptoms appear. For example, preclinical Alzheimer's is a stage that can last a decade or more without any obvious hint of disease. However, in some cases, dementia can appear to come on all of a sudden—mostly among people with certain types of FTD, vascular dementia, or CJD.

Dementia primarily affects seniors and the elderly. But it can also affect those who are still in their prime working years. Early-onset dementia is the term used when it strikes younger people. The age for early-onset dementia varies, but it's always under age 65 and frequently falls in the range of 50 to 64. People much younger than that can also get dementia.

Since different cognitive disorders can affect different people in different ways, it's important to be aware of a fairly wide range of possible symptoms. That way, you'll have an easier time recognizing potential problems before they progress to a more advanced stage. In the beginning, a person may display just one or two of the following indicators.

Early Signs of Dementia Checklist

• Abnormal memory problems: Everybody has moments of forgetfulness. Pay attention if those moments become more frequent or involve forgetting information like a close friend's name, where you live, or where objects that you use every day are. People with early-stage dementia may also forget what they've just done yet still remember events from many years ago. They also may repeat things they've already said or tasks they've already completed.
• Mood or behavioral changes: Many people in the early stages of dementia start behaving in odd or out-of-character ways. Their personalities begin to change as they sense that something isn't quite right and try to cope or adapt. For instance, they might become depressed, fearful, and apathetic, losing interest in the things that used to bring them joy. They may withdraw from social opportunities and become more irritable than usual. Or they might lose some of their inhibitions and become more aggressive or outgoing.
• Communication problems: Have you ever had trouble thinking of the right word to use during a conversation? It's happened to most of us. But during the early stages of dementia, it can happen much more frequently. And it can go beyond single words. Entire sentences can come out sounding like gibberish, as if constructed with random word choices. Plus, the meanings of words may be forgotten, making it hard to follow conversations or keep up with what's happening in movies or TV shows.
• Bad decision-making: People with dementia can lose their sense of reason and judgment, causing them to do things they would otherwise regret. For example, they might fall for scam artists or waste huge amounts of money on things they don't need. Or they might dress inappropriately or make bizarre plans that don't work out due to a lack of organization.
• Trouble performing routine tasks: It's pretty common for adults with dementia to start losing their ability to carry out some of their daily activities. For instance, they may have trouble counting money or making simple financial transactions. They might misjudge distances or forget routine safety precautions while driving. Or they may have a hard time playing their favorite games.
• Confusion or disorientation: It's normal to be a little confused from time to time. But confusion should be a red flag when it happens regularly or in familiar surroundings. Even in the early stages of dementia, people can lose their sense of time, get lost, confuse past and current events, or mix up friends or family's names and faces. With some types of dementia, hallucinations can also occur.

What Happens as Dementia Progresses

As people approach the more advanced dementia stages, they become more like strangers to those who know and love them. Their personalities often change significantly, making their family members feel robbed and heartbroken. And they become unable to perform activities of daily living without assistance. Eventually, their minds and bodies fail entirely.

During mid-stage dementia (also known as moderate-stage dementia), the symptoms grow more intense and restricting. A person may show many of the symptoms already described, but they will be increasingly hampered by them. By this point, dedicated dementia care is almost always necessary. For people at this stage, memory issues, behavior, and decision-making become more problematic. And they often start needing assistance with tasks like eating, going to the bathroom, bathing, and getting dressed. They also may wander haphazardly, have delusions, grow suspicious of other people, and take compulsive actions.

During late-stage dementia (also known as severe dementia or end-stage dementia), a person's brain is so damaged that even basic bodily functions are affected. Patients at this stage need 24/7 care since they are totally dependent on their caregivers. Their abilities to move, speak, swallow, breathe, and control their bowels and bladder are often severely limited, to the point of failure in many cases.

Life Expectancy

It's sad but true: A person can die from dementia. Most types of dementia are fatal since they're currently incurable. But, aside from rare forms of dementia, it can take anywhere from three to 20 years for dementia to progress from diagnosis to death. Whether you're talking about Alzheimer's disease, LBD, FTD, or vascular dementia, life expectancy after the first onset of symptoms varies from patient to patient. What researchers do know is that the biggest factors involved in the life expectancy of dementia patients include:

• Gender: Women with dementia tend to live longer, on average, than men.
• Age: The older you are when symptoms first appear, the less time you can generally expect to live.
• The severity of symptoms when diagnosed: The more impaired your cognitive functions are when receiving your dementia diagnosis, the less time you are likely to live.

An older person can live with dementia for between roughly four and 11 years, depending on their age. Here's how that breaks down for seniors and elderly people, according to a study in The BMJ:

• 65 to 69 years old: 10.7 years
• 70 to 79 years old: 5.4 years
• 80 to 89 years old: 4.3 years
• 90 years old or above: 3.8 years

How Dementia Is Diagnosed

Unfortunately, a single, 100-percent-accurate test for dementia doesn't exist yet. And many cases of dementia can only be completely confirmed with an autopsy. That means doctors often have to make a "best guess" determination and classify their living patients as having either "possible" or "probable" dementia. So, how is dementia diagnosed in patients who are still alive? It requires multiple steps.

First, a doctor will take a comprehensive medical history. A thorough physical exam will then be performed, which might include simple neurological tests for evaluating things like speech, coordination, eye movement, and reflexes. The doctor will order lab tests to help rule out other illnesses and check various health markers such as blood counts and nutrient and hormone levels. The tests will not be invasive. They will be based on blood and urine samples. A brain scan may also be ordered, especially if the doctor suspects vascular dementia. A brain scan may also be ordered, especially if the doctor suspects vascular dementia. Finally, the patient will participate in various tests for assessing mental ability.

Several aspects of a patient's mental abilities are usually evaluated, including:

• Short-term recall: The doctor may name three random objects (or a name and address) and ask the patient to say them back and remember them later.
• Verbal communication: The patient may be asked several open-ended questions to see how well they use and understand language.
• Concentration: The doctor may ask the patient to perform a simple mental exercise that requires sustained focus and attention, such as counting backward.
• Information and orientation: The doctor may check to see if the patient can give correct and specific answers to basic questions about the date, location, recent events, and universally known facts.
• Learning and retention: The patient may be asked to recall and repeat the three objects (or name and address) that were spoken earlier.

The clock-drawing test is another simple assessment tool that's often used. A patient is asked to draw a traditional round clock with all the numbers and hands showing a specific time. Any errors in the hands or numbers placement indicate cognitive problems that need to be further evaluated.

A doctor will also usually ask a patient's loved one or caregiver about any abnormal behavior or abilities changes. Once the doctor has gathered all the results and information, they will either diagnose the patient or refer them to another medical professional for additional evaluation.

Dementia Rating Scales: What the Stages Mean

After a patient has been diagnosed with a particular kind of dementia, the disorder's progress needs to be rated and tracked. The most basic way to rate a patient's dementia is to use the three-stage method, which was touched on earlier in this article. As a reminder, the three general levels of dementia are:

• Early-stage (mild) dementia: In contrast to later stages, a patient can still function fairly independently. However, they may have some trouble with the kinds of tasks that people tend to learn when they're teenagers, such as driving, preparing meals, or managing money.
• Middle-stage (moderate) dementia: The patient requires assistance with some, but not all, routine activities each day. He or she may need daily help with tasks that people learn as young children (e.g., eating, getting dressed, using the toilet, etc.).
• Late-stage (severe) dementia: The patient is completely dependent on caregivers and may not be able to speak or move.

The three-stage scale is useful for general communication. But many caregivers and healthcare professionals prefer to use other, more specific types of scales when rating and tracking the progress of their patients' dementia. The following scales are often used because they can help provide better guidance when it comes to anticipating and figuring out a patient's care needs:

Global Deterioration Scale (GDS)

This scale includes seven stages. It's mostly used for Alzheimer's disease since it places a large focus on memory and cognitive decline. It isn't as useful for types of dementia that don't involve memory loss in their early or middle stages. But since Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, this scale is widely used.

Based on the GDS, the seven stages of dementia are:

1. No cognitive decline: People at this stage have normal memory without any signs of dementia.
2. Very mild cognitive decline: This level is associated with normal age-related forgetfulness (such as, from time to time, forgetting where you put something). No objective signs of dementia or memory loss are evident.
3. Mild cognitive decline: At this stage, people begin to have more obvious memory deficits:
   
   
   • Get lost in unfamiliar places.
   • Lose valuable objects.
   • Forget the names of people right after meeting them.
   • Have trouble concentrating.
   • Have difficulty retaining the information they read.
   • Find it hard to come up with the right words to use.
   
   However, the symptoms are still mild enough that they don't yet rise to the level of clinical dementia.
4. Moderate cognitive decline: Also referred to as the "mild dementia" stage, this level is associated with clear-cut memory problems during clinical exams. For example, a patient may:
   
   
   • Forget aspects of their personal history.
   • Have trouble remembering recent or current events.
   • Have difficulty focusing when performing simple calculations.
   • Find it challenging to travel or handle financial matters.
   • Start to withdraw socially and deny that anything's wrong.
5. Moderately severe cognitive decline: This stage is also known as "moderate dementia." It's associated with major memory issues and some loss of ability when it comes to activities like making meals or choosing appropriate clothing. Patients may know their own names and be able to identify immediate family members. However, they may not recall major life events. They also may experience frequent disorientation.
6. Severe cognitive decline: This level is also called "moderately severe dementia." Patients need a lot of help to carry out daily activities, especially with going to the bathroom, since they may have little ability to control their bowels or bladders. They also frequently forget the names of close loved ones and can't remember recent events. Their personalities may change drastically, and they may lose their willpower or display more aggressive, compulsive, or delusional behavior.
7. Very severe cognitive decline: Also known as "severe dementia," this stage is associated with a loss of speaking ability, major incontinence, and a progressive loss of reflexes, mobility, and various motor skills such as swallowing.

Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR)

This five-stage rating system is popular in the field of dementia research. It can also be used for a wider range of dementias. Researchers and some clinicians use the CDR to quantify how severe patients' symptoms are. They evaluate cognitive and functional symptoms related to memory, personal care, community interaction, sense of time and place, hobbies, home life, problem-solving, and decision-making. The five stages include:

• CDR-0: Normal (no cognitive impairment)
• CDR-0.5: Very mild dementia (slight issues with memory, time, solving problems, etc.)
• CDR-1: Mild dementia (moderate issues with memory, solving problems, doing hobbies, performing daily activities, and functioning independently away from home)
• CDR-2: Moderate dementia (major memory loss, disorientation, poor judgment, impaired problem solving, little interest in hobbies, and very limited ability to function independently at home)
• CDR-3: Severe dementia (extreme memory loss, severe disorientation, and no ability to solve problems, make good decisions, participate in activities away from home, or care for oneself)

Functional Assessment Staging (FAST)

The GDS is focused more on a patient's memory and cognitive ability. The FAST system is more narrowly focused on a patient's practical ability to carry out daily activities. (The same patient can be rated at one stage on the GDS and a different stage on the FAST scale.) As with the GDS, the FAST scale is intended to track the decline of Alzheimer's patients. But since it has a slightly different focus, it can also sometimes be applied to other kinds of dementia patients. This scale includes seven main stages, with multiple sub-stages in levels 6 and 7. The stages are:

1. Normal: No functional deficits
2. Normal older adult: Some awareness of slight memory or functional issues
3. Early Alzheimer's or dementia: Decrease in ability to perform some job functions or remember certain things (as noticed by family and coworkers)
4. Mild Alzheimer's or dementia: Impaired ability to handle finances, make plans, or perform other complex tasks
5. Moderate Alzheimer's or dementia: Help required with making clothing choices
6. Moderately severe Alzheimer's or dementia:
   1. Inability to get dressed without assistance
   2. Inability to bathe without help
   3. Inability to use the toilet without help
   4. Urinary incontinence
   5. Bowel incontinence
7. Severe Alzheimer's or dementia:
   1. Limited speech (i.e., only up to five or six intelligible words a day)
   2. Extremely limited speech (only one intelligible word a day)
   3. Inability to walk
   4. Inability to sit up without help
   5. Inability to smile
   6. Inability to hold one's head up

Treatments and Prevention

In the vast majority of cases, a person cannot recover from dementia. Rare exceptions exist, but only for people who have symptoms of dementia caused by uncommon disorders that can be fully treated. There is currently no cure for dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease, LBD, or vascular dementia. However, many forms of dementia can be partially treated or even slowed down. The earlier a person is diagnosed, the easier it is to optimize their treatment and manage the symptoms going forward.

Current Treatments

Depending on the particular patient, dementia treatment can involve several different components. For some patients, treatment for dementia occurs alongside treatment for other medical conditions, including illnesses that may be contributing to their cognitive decline. Doctors and caregivers often strive for a balanced approach that addresses the need to manage cognitive symptoms as well as physical and psychological symptoms. In many cases, the following treatments, therapies, and lifestyle changes can help with dementia:

• Medications: Several pharmaceutical drugs are available to help improve brain function or to manage or slow down the progression of dementia. Medications like Namenda, for instance, can help prevent damage to brain cells caused by high levels of glutamate. Other common drugs for dementia work by increasing the brain's levels of a particular neurotransmitter that helps neurons communicate. They include cholinesterase inhibitors like Exelon, Razadyne, and Aricept. Although such drugs can be effective for up to a few years in some patients, they eventually stop working since there is no way to stop the progression of most types of dementia. Many patients are also prescribed medications to help manage issues like sleep problems, depression, or anxiety.
• Counseling: Dealing with dementia can be incredibly stressful and frightening. Many patients experience a deep sense of loss as their memories deteriorate and close friends or loved ones start visiting less often. They can feel sad and isolated. Along with other emotional responses, anger is also a part of dementia for a lot of patients. Mood swings can further drive away important relationships. That's why individual and group counseling is often an essential part of treatment. Dementia support groups can enable patients to bond with other people who are going through the same experiences. You can find local support groups by using the Alzheimer's Association's online search tool.
• Nutrition and dietary changes: A lot of research indicates that eating a balanced diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables can have brain-protecting effects. So patients are often advised to avoid processed foods and to eat more colorful fruits and veggies, especially leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids are also recommended, such as healthy fats like hemp seed oil. Some researchers are also exploring the potential benefits of eating turmeric. Other researchers have begun studying the interaction between coconut oil and dementia. It's thought that consuming coconut oil might provide damaged brains with an alternative fuel source known as ketones. (The brains of dementia patients often lose their ability to use glucose as fuel for neurons. But ketones are a byproduct of the digestion of coconut oil and may help improve cognitive function, at least temporarily.)
• Exercise: Like a healthy diet, regular physical activity is also believed to have a protective effect on the brain. Ongoing research continues to explore whether exercise helps impede the progress of various types of dementia.
• Alternative therapies: Some dementia patients seem to benefit from therapies that are offered outside the realm of standard medical practice. But it's important to be aware that many alternative remedies are unregulated. They may not have as much scientific research to back them up. That said, they are sometimes worth trying. For example, music therapy has been shown to help ease emotional and behavioral problems in many dementia patients. It has also helped some patients access and experience memories from their younger days. In addition, acupuncture and massage therapy can help some patients relax. And some people with dementia have benefitted from the use of cannabis, aromatherapy, and art therapy.

Possible Future Treatments

Even though a cure for dementia doesn't currently exist, there is reason to hope. Scientists and researchers continue to discover potential new avenues of treatment that may lead to a cure within the next few decades. So if you or someone you love has been diagnosed with dementia, it may be worth looking into clinical trials for experimental or leading-edge treatments. A few examples of promising treatment possibilities being researched include:

• Ultrasound therapy: Researchers in Canada use focused, non-invasive sound waves to help eliminate toxic beta-amyloid plaques that accumulate behind the blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer's patients.
• Liraglutide: This prescription drug, used mostly to treat people with obesity and type 2 diabetes, may have the potential to help a dementia patient's neurons function longer than they otherwise would.
• Betabloc: This vaccine may reduce the amount of toxic plaques that inhibit brain cells, stop the progression of dementia, and repair some of the brain damage that occurs during the early stages of dementia.
• Solanezumab: Patients who take this prescription medication may experience better cognitive performance. The drug may help brain cells live longer and slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Preventive Measures

For those of us who haven't developed dementia, it's worth considering how we might be able to prevent it. When you look at the many risk factors for dementia, it becomes pretty clear that we have the power to control some of them. For example, taking the following actions may reduce a person's risk of getting dementia:

• Stop smoking
• Eat a diet that's heavy on all kinds of fruits and vegetables
• Get daily exercise
• Treat high blood pressure
• Lose weight if obese or overweight
• Treat and control diabetes
• Minimize sources of stress
• Treat depression and anxiety
• Wear a helmet during certain activities to help prevent head trauma
• Stay curious and keep learning new things
• Maintain close friendships and family connections
• Have fun and socialize often

One more thing: Get your hearing checked and use hearing aids if necessary. An AARP article reports that about two-thirds of Americans develop hearing loss by age 70.

However, hearing aids are only used by about 15 to 20 percent of people with clinical hearing loss. By maintaining your hearing, you may be able to further reduce your risk of developing dementia.

How to Care for Loved Ones With Dementia

Aside from medical care and lifestyle changes, the best treatment for dementia may be companionship. After all, a person's dementia will almost always progress despite everyone's best efforts. But that person is still a human being with an emotional inner life and a need to bond with caring people. Dementia patients still deserve the best quality of life we can give them.

Of course, that is often easier said than done. People with dementia can be very difficult to live with. And being a caregiver can take a real toll on your well-being, not to mention your finances. The Alzheimer's Association report mentioned earlier notes that over 16 million people in America take care of dementia patients without getting paid. Eventually, many family caregivers require extra support or need to turn the care of their loved ones over to professional long-term care services, such as those provided by:

• Home care services
• Assisted living facilities
• Memory care facilities
• Nursing homes

Are you in the position of needing to care for a friend or loved one with dementia? Planning ahead and knowing what to expect can make the whole experience go a little smoother. It won't be an easy job, but many caregivers have discovered how to successfully get through each day with grace, adaptability, patience, creativity, and compassion. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Find a support group for caregivers.

Every caregiver has both good and bad days. It's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed by the challenges of caring for someone with dementia. But that's why it's essential to take care of yourself too. Your own physical and emotional well-being should be a top priority. Think of it in terms of being on an airplane: If the cabin loses pressure, you're supposed to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. If you don't follow that simple rule, then you risk failing everyone. It is appropriate—and recommended—to seek support.

Let a support group be your oxygen. You may be surprised by how many caregivers and family members of dementia patients feel the way you do. You can learn from their mistakes and successes while bonding over shared challenges and coming up with new solutions together. All kinds of organizations offer support groups, resources, and services for those living with or caring for people with dementia. For example, check out the Family Caregiver Alliance or the Alzheimer's Association.

2. Seek to understand troubling behaviors.

Living with a person that has dementia is hard. It can help a lot to learn about the disease and why it makes people think and act the way they do. Trying to recognize why certain behaviors happen and learning not to overreact or take things personally is also helpful. In many cases, problematic behaviors will have an underlying cause that you may be able to do something about. For example, certain behaviors may stem from drug side effects, pain or discomfort, embarrassment, fear, boredom, overstimulation, hunger, thirst, fatigue, or needing to use the toilet. Like babies, many dementia patients aren't able to express what they need. They are trying to cope with circumstances that are out of their control.

When caring for a person with dementia, you can sometimes help change their behaviors by making simple modifications to your own behavior. (Maybe the person is reacting to something you say or do. Or maybe there's something "off" about the person's environment, such as too much noise from a TV show you're watching.) With other behaviors, it's often better to find creative ways to accommodate them rather than try to control them. Always remember that it's the dementia, not the person. Be prepared to go with the flow and calmly, creatively, and reassuringly deal with each situation, which may involve problematic behaviors like:

• Repeating the same words, sentences, sounds, or actions over and over again
• Resisting help, especially with bathing, going to the bathroom, or getting dressed
• Acting aggressively, either physically or verbally
• Wandering off
• Refusing to eat or drink
• Following, imitating, or interrupting you or other caregivers
• Acting jealous or paranoid
• Refusing to sleep at night
• Acting inappropriately, especially in a sexual way
• Urinating or defecating in places other than the bathroom

3. Establish a daily schedule and consistent routines.

Dementia patients need a lot of structure in their lives since their world often feels out of control. Creating predictable routines can help a person with dementia thrive as much as possible. There is a greater chance of something being stored in a person's long-term memory if it is more familiar. This familiarity can help offset some short-term memory loss. That way, daily routines can have a grounding effect, relieving anxiety and reducing troubling behavior frequency. As much as possible, when developing a schedule and choosing routine activities, focus on the person's preferences and past favorites (i.e., what he or she liked doing before getting dementia).

4. Ensure your loved one has a safe and reliable means of communicating with you.

Many people find themselves trying to juggle caring for a loved one in the earlier stages of dementia while keeping other areas of their life afloat. This might mean periods of time spent alone, which can be scary for the person with dementia and for the person entrusted with their care. Knowing that you can be reached easily and reliably when you are away from home can ease everyone's minds.

Mobile devices are being made with more and more accessibility features that can simplify the processes involved with using them. You can even find cell phones for seniors designed specifically to help people with memory impairments, like the RAZ Memory Cell Phone.

5. Approach conversations the right way.

Besides dealing with behavioral problems, talking to someone with dementia is often one of the most challenging aspects for loved ones and caregivers. Conversations can quickly become frustrating if you enter into them with unrealistic expectations. That's why patience is one of the biggest keys to getting the most from face-to-face interaction. (Remember that you're speaking to someone who still has emotions despite declining cognitive function.) In order to have positive interactions, many professionals recommend that you talk to a person with dementia by:

• Minimizing noise or other sources of distraction
• Speaking at their eye level
• Smiling and maintaining regular eye contact
• Holding their hand
• Speaking slowly, in a tone that's reassuring
• Using short words and sentences
• Avoiding open-ended questions that may be hard to answer
• Waiting for him or her to finish speaking before you say something new
• Paying attention to their body language for signs of discomfort
• Not correcting or arguing about their factual errors or false memories
• Putting more emphasis on positive feelings than on accurate information
• Changing the subject or moving to a different setting if he or she becomes agitated
• Using old photo albums to encourage conversation
• Staying upbeat and using simple humor when appropriate
• Being comfortable with extended moments of silence

6. Stay flexible and provide meaningful activities.

You won't always be able to stick to the daily routine. On any given day, your go-to strategies may not work. So you need some back-up plans in case the person you care for resists the usual activities. Plus, remember this: A person may have dementia, but he or she still needs opportunities to do things that create a sense of purpose and accomplishment. The nature and complexity of those opportunities will change as their dementia progresses, but everyone deserves to feel valued. And it doesn't have to be complicated. Even seemingly ho-hum activities can provide meaning in the life of someone who's losing cognitive function.

Daily routines should, of course, always include self-care activities like getting dressed, eating, taking medications, bathing, and resting. But they should also incorporate opportunities related to "work" and leisure—activities that provide a sense of being productive or a feeling of pure pleasure and enjoyment. Again, try to figure out activities that may be relevant to the person's life before he or she started experiencing cognitive decline. Here are just a few examples of possible activities for people with dementia:

• Going on walks, including with animals
• Weeding a garden
• Doing simple chores like dusting, vacuuming, folding laundry, making the bed, raking leaves, watering plants, or putting away groceries
• Petting a dog or cat
• Dancing
• Singing favorite songs
• Doing simple chair exercises
• Helping with food preparation
• Working on a simple jigsaw puzzle
• Finger painting
• Rolling yarn into large balls
• Playing Bingo or simple card games
• Sanding wood blocks
• Sorting objects like coins, buttons, stamps, poker chips, or nuts and bolts
• Listening to music or relaxing sounds
• Socializing with friends or family members

Seek Support

It isn't easy to live with dementia or to watch someone you love fade away from it. But support is available. And more effective treatments—or maybe even a cure—may be closer than any of us imagine.