Dementia is not a normal part of aging and is not inevitable. It is an umbrella term used to describe a series of symptoms.

Signs or symptoms of dementia include:

• personality, mood, or behavior changes
  
• problems with language
  
• loss of recent memory
  
• problems with abstract thinking
  
• faulty judgment
  
• misplacing things
  
• disorientation to time and place
  
• loss of initiative

Dementia is caused by a number of different conditions. Some conditions that cause dementia can be reversed and others cannot. The two most common forms of dementia in older people are Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia (sometimes called vascular dementia). Other diseases causing dementia include Pick's, Huntington's, Korsakow's, and Parkinson's.

Reversible conditions with symptoms of dementia can be caused by high fever, dehydration, urinary tract infections, vitamin deficiency, poor nutrition, bad reactions to medications, problems with the thyroid gland, and minor head injury.

There are an estimated 5.1 million Americans living with the early-onset and late-onset forms of Alzheimer's disease. In 2007, there were at least 2.2 million Americans 85 years and older diagnosed with some form of dementia. Approximately 50% of Americans 85 years and older have some form of dementia.

Individuals 85 years and older are one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population. In 2005, there were an estimated 5 million people 85 years and older in the country. This figure is expected to increase to 19.4 million by 2050. As a result, the number of older adults with late-onset Alzheimer's disease will also increase drastically.

Caregivers are also affected by dementia. In a national survey, 19 million Americans said they have a family member with Alzheimer's disease, and 37 million said they know someone with the disease.

8.9 million caregivers (20% of adult caregivers) care for someone 50 years or older with dementia. Caregivers of older adults with dementia experience burnout overwhelmingly more than caregivers of older adults without dementia.

Challenging or difficult behaviors that arise from dementia are one of the leading causes for placing a person in a nursing facility or an assisted living facility.

You can communicate with older people with dementia. Knowing the right — and the simplest — techniques is all it takes to reach them. Validation Techniques for Dementia Care teaches those techniques.

Sources: Alzheimer's Disease Education & Referral Center (www.alzheimers.org), the Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org), and Family Caregiver Alliance (www.caregiver.org)