The majority of elderly patients showed no deficit on the cognitive screening test; thus, it was concluded that it was unlikely that the cognitive decline was related to age in this sample. It was thought that the cognitive decline may be attributable to the presence of multiple disabling health conditions in the majority of participants.
There is no cure for dementia and treatments are focused on managing symptoms. Medication, in particular antipsychotics, are commonly prescribed to treatment resistant illnesses. In the USA, there is a high prevalence of Medicare patients receiving multiple prescription drugs; the most commonly prescribed are antipsychotics. What are common treatments for dementia? answer: Antipsychotics are the most commonly prescribed medication for dementia. Antipsychotics may be appropriate during the initial stages of DLD to ease anxiety and depression as well as for reducing agitation. Other medications frequently prescribed to dementia include antidepressants and sedating hypnotics. There is no consensus on the preferred pharmacological treatment for DLD.
Because the underlying causes of cognitive impairment are so frequent and enduring in the population, current treatments that ameliorate their negative side-effects cannot be regarded as a curative therapy for cognitive decline and dementia as yet.
around 6% of people in the United States will have at least one mild cognitive impairment in the next 5 years, which will be the equivalent of 20 million people. Those with less education, less functional ability or higher comorbidity risks will be at higher risk.
Cognitive disability, as indicated by delayed cognition and slowed cognitive processes, is common, and is likely to worsen over time. It may also have significant clinical relevance: early identification and diagnosis can help delay or help prevent decline and is a potential target for interventions.
Some clinical signs are common and clinically significant such as difficulty in verbal tasks, perceptual difficulties, confusion, decreased ability to make judgements and poor attention span. Other signs include decreased attention, delayed responses, slowness of processing, decreased ability to plan and think ahead. Older adults are particularly at risk of having these clinically significant signs.
There is accumulating evidence for pharmacological treatment that will soon become available for treating cognitive decline. Older people are also more likely to receive treatment, particularly those reporting mental health problems. Although these are compelling reasons to begin clinical trials, there is some evidence that they may be less effective than anticipated. If they do not work as well as hoped, some people with cognitive decline will likely opt not to participate (see Risk assessment and decision making).
The current evidence suggests that an optimistic attitude is associated with greater engagement in physical activity. Further investigation is needed to determine if positive outlook is correlated to more physically fit older adults.
Hola Latinos have a lower frequency and intensity of physical activity compared with other latino older adults residing in Miami, Florida. Further study is needed to determine why physical activity levels are markedly different.
The seriousness of cognitive deficits with age is difficult to measure but it should be considered in the evaluation of older patients with subjective complaints of memory loss or cognitive problems. Anemia and dehydration in older patients are also potentially serious but often treatable situations.
Using data from the Cognitive Function Follow-Up Study of the National Institute of Mental Health, a large community sample, this study demonstrates that a paternal-but-no-maternal relationship between cognitive performance and parental longevity does indeed occur.
As a therapeutic treatment for depression, for example, the addition of antidepressant drugs has been shown to be a good adjunct to psychotherapy on cognitive impairment in older Latino populations. Also, the use of these drug agents to treat depression has been demonstrated for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease even though there is no known therapeutic treatment for it.