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I was glad that the topic of an umbrella term was brought up in the lecture. I think most people believe that dementia equals Alzheimer's but that's not the case. Like the lecture tells us, there are 90 different types of dementia. It's heartbreaking to hear that only two out of ten elders will get a good evaluation. It's important how Teepa Snow put an emphasis on "good." It's sad to hear that healthcare professionals are using a quick screening tool to assess whether someone has dementia or not when it wasn't developed to be used that way when it was invented 30 years ago. When she quickly instructed the audience similar to how a doctor instructs a patient who's screening for possible dementia, I was overwhelmed. I can't imagine how someone who has dementia feels when they try to answer those questions. I question how doctors can tell someone they don't have dementia just because they're worried they might have it. Firstly, if a patient is worried they have dementia, shouldn't you be testing to see if they do? Secondly, a lot of people who have dementia are aware that they have dementia.

To begin with, I learned that dementia is brain failure. Teepa Snow gave a great introduction that reformed society's definition of dementia from memory problems to its actual definition of brain failure. I learned that four characteristics of all dementias are: two or more parts of the brain are dying, it's chronic, progressive, and terminal. I didn't know that dementia, delirium, and depression are usually coinciding. I also didn't know that dementia is a syndrome and not a diagnosis. I thought it was a diagnosis in itself even though it's an umbrella term, but it makes sense as to why it's not a diagnosis until the type of dementia is discovered. It's shocking that a 25 year old can have dementia and the fact Alzheimer's starts to form at birth in individuals who have down syndrome. I'm glad I gained knowledge on how vascular dementia affects the emotional control center, because now I have a better understanding of some of the residents I care for. The end of the lecture explains that people who have mental health conditions have an increased risk of developing dementia. My jaw dropped when she said the risk increases by 50%!

Barriers for people with any type of dementia could include poor health care and a lack of education in their families because that can lead to not noticing symptoms.