What can I expect if I have dementia?

What can I expect if I have dementia?

Getting a diagnosis of dementia is certainly difficult to hear. Several types of dementia aren’t reversible. Others are a side effect of other serious diseases. Some dementia-like symptoms are due to conditions that can be treated and reversed.

Your healthcare team, which will probably include a neurologist and/or a geriatric-psychiatrist or a geriatrician, will order the needed tests to make the correct diagnosis. The medications available today focus on slowing the decline.

The goal is to maintain your or your loved one’s quality of life. Some people with Alzheimer’s dementia can live up to two decades, but each person has their own unique course. Researchers continue learning about the mechanisms that cause dementia and testing different methods to slow, and someday, hopefully, cure this disease.