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Dr. Virginia Rockhill
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Ageing, as we all know, is a normal part of the human life-cycle. Most of us w | Life Transitions | Alzheimer’s is a disease of ageing in which an individual loses cognitive abilities over a period of time resulting in memory impairment, language disturbances, disturbances in one’s ability to plan, organize and sequence tasks, difficulties recognizing and identifying objects and familiar faces, and difficulties carrying out well-learned motor functions. The memory deficits can prevent recall of newly learned information or the recall of previously learned information. There is extensive information about Alzheimer’s Disease on the internet and I would encourage the interested reader to contact these links to those sites. This disease can have a early onset if symptoms appear before age 65 or late onset if it occurs after age 65. Accompanying symptoms can, but not necessarily, include depression, delusions, and delirium | Ageing | Memory Loss | Dementia | Dementia is a general diagnosis which includes memory impairment for new or previously learned information and other cognitive disturbances like aphasia (language disturbance), apraxia (impairment in one’s ability to carry out purposeful motor activities despite having the physiological ability to do so), agnosia (a failure to recognize or identify faces or objects), and executive dysfunction (problems planning, organizing, changing cognitive “sets”, and abstracting). It can be caused by vascular accidents and many other neurological signs are associated with it. I would recommend a thorough neurological evaluation to determine the qualitative status of the dementia. The progression of dementia can be quantitatively evaluated by neuropsychological testing as a baseline measure with which to measure further decline in the future. | Alzheimer's | Memory Loss | Ageing | |
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ould rather not think about it, based on the many negative associations of ageing. But like it or not, unless our lives end prematurely, we all age. Adapting to the ageing process does not mean we are relegated to poor physical and cognitive functioning. It means realistically examining ourselves to truthfully identify our strengths and weaknesses and maximizing those strengths and reducing the impact those weaknesses have on our lives. Making a commitment to change unhealthy lifestyles by learning how we came to have those unhealthy lifestyles in the first place is essential to become proactive in taking control of our future health. This does not mean we forsake all of our old familiar ways, it just means being honest with yourself and prioritizing what is really important to you rather than wasting energy on what could happen to you.
