Dementia is known a disease of old age. But did you know that about 5% of all dementia cases are among people between their 30s and 64th?
A recent research analyzed 95 international studies and came to conclusion that nearly 4 million people worldwide are living with young-onset dementia! This means that there are 119 cases of dementia in younger age per 100.000 peope worldwide.
Of course, 5% doesn’t seem that much and therefore younger-onset dementia is considered to be uncommon. The researchers confirm that dementia was exceedingly rare among the youngest adults of 30-34 year old, which is roughly 1 case per 100.000 people. On the other hand, people in their early 60s had the highest rate—about 77 cases per 100.000. However, doctors need to consider a possibility of dementia in younger people.
Young-onset dementia is difficult to recognize. The research showed that it took an average of 4.5 years to diagnose with dementia younger people compared to just under 3 years for older adults. Why? Because young-onset dementia can be expressed, as usually, in memory issues, which worsen over time and are accompanied by decline in ability to think, learn, reason, solve problems and judge. But more often it manifests in form of changes in behaviour, emotions and, sometimes, language problems. These symptoms can be seen as the signs of other mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety or “burnout” with an inappropriate treatement as a result.
So what can cause dementia in younger people, in the first place? The heredity (as in case of Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia), problems with blood flow to the brain and bad lifestyle habits leading to a.o. high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, which are the big contributors to dementia at any age.
Curious? HERE is the source
