Castleford Team Parish Magazine July & August 2014 2014-07 | Page 24

July & August 2014

DEMENTIA
(A further note from Fr Michael)
I mentioned last month that I was going to a meeting to explore how
we might become more aware about the problems of living with
dementia and how we can help with this ever increasing issue.
Dementia is a term that is used to describe a collection of symptoms
including memory loss, problems with reasoning and communication
skills, and a reduction in a person's ability to carrying out daily tasks
such as washing, dressing, cooking and caring for oneself.
Memory loss - this can be one of the first symptoms that people
notice. The observations people report include - noticing their loved
ones forgetting things that have happened earlier in the day, getting
confused about messages and who people are, getting lost whilst out
and about, repeating themselves, and appearing not to be paying attention or following conversations.
Problems with communication - Some people experience
problems with expressing themselves, talking and understanding
things. They get confused about words and might use the wrong
words for common things and mix words up. Reading and
understanding written text can become a problem.
There are a number of different types of dementia the most common
being Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Some people get
diagnosed as having mixed dementia; this is when the symptoms
show the person to have elements of more than one type of
dementia.
(continued on page 25)

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