Dementia For Dummies - UK

Chapter 5

Understanding the Stages of Dementia

In This Chapter

Working through the three stages of dementia

Exploring the progression of different types of dementia

Dementia, in all its manifestations, is a progressive disease. And although this decline is most often seen as a continuous process rather than happening in phases, dividing up its course into early, middle and late stages to get a better idea of how symptoms change over the course of the disease is useful.

Unsurprisingly, the edges of these stages are blurred, and each individual experiences dementia differently, depending on his pre-illness personality, the other medical conditions he may have and whether he receives good support. However, the stages I describe are still a good general guide to what to expect in the months and years after diagnosis.

I start by looking at dementia in general, using Alzheimer’s disease as my main example, and end by looking at any specific peculiarities seen in vascular dementia, fronto-temporal dementia and Lewy body disease.

Looking at the Early Stage

This stage has particularly blurred edges, because it contains some of the very first symptoms someone may exhibit as he develops dementia. These may be new symptoms appearing out of the blue or a progression from longer-standing mild ...