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.Common side effects are delusions(irrational beliefs), depression, agitation, aggression, and apathy (Lyketsos et al.,2000).Again, it is difficult to establish the cause-and-effect relationship.We don tknow how much behavioral change is caused by progressive brain deteriorationdirectly and how much is a result of the frustration and discouragement that inevitablyaccompany the loss of function and the isolation of  losing loved ones.Cognitivefunctioning continues to deteriorate until the person requires almost total support tocarry out day-to-day activities.Ultimately, death occurs as the result of inactivitycombined with the onset of other illnesses such as pneumonia.Durand 13-80dementia Gradual-onset deterioration of brain functioning involving memory loss,inability to recognize objects or faces, and problems in planning and abstractreasoning.These are associated with frustration and discouragement.agnosia Inability to recognize and name objects; may be a symptom of dementia orother brain disorders.facial agnosia Type of agnosia characterized by a person s inability to recognizeeven familiar faces.Dementia can occur at almost any age, although the incidence of this disorder ishighest in older adults.In one large representative study, researchers found aprevalence of a little more than 1% in people between the ages of 65 and 74; this rateincreased to almost 4% in those aged 75 to 84 and to more than 10% in people 85 andolder (George, Landoman, Blazer, & Anthony, 1991).Estimates of the increasingnumber of people with just one form of dementia dementia of the Alzheimer stype are alarming.Table 13.1 illustrates how the prevalence of dementia of theAlzheimer s type is projected to dramatically increase in older adults, in part as aresult of the increase of  baby boomers who will enter the ranks of the elderly(Hebert, Scherr, Bienias, Bennett, & Evans, 2003).Among the eldest of adults, onestudy of centenarians (people 100 years and older) found that almost 90% showedsigns of dementia (Blansjaar, Thomassen, & Van Schaick, 2000).Dementia of theAlzheimer s type rarely occurs in people under 45 years of age (American PsychiatricAssociation, 2000b).A problem with confirming prevalence figures for dementia is that survival ratesalter the outcomes.Incidence studies, which count the number of new cases in a year,may thus be the most reliable method for assessing the frequency of dementia,especially among the elderly.In one study, the annual incidence rates for dementiaDurand 13-81were 2.3% for people 75 to 79 years of age, 4.6% for people 80 to 84 years of age,and 8.5% for those 85 and older (Paykel et al., 1994).The research showed that therate for new cases doubled with every 5 years of age.In addition, the rate fordementia was comparable for men and women and was equivalent across educationallevel and social class.Many other studies, however, find greater increases of dementiaamong women (e.g., Rorsman, Hagnell, & Lanke, 1986), although this may bebecause of the tendency of women to live longer.Dementia of the Alzheimer s typemay, as we discuss later, be more prevalent among women.Together, results suggestthat dementia is a relatively common disorder among older adults, and the chances ofdeveloping it increase rapidly after the age of 75.[Start Table 13.1]TABLE 13.1 Estimates of Prevalence of Alzheimer s Disease in the United StatesThrough 2050 (in millions)Year Age 65 74 Age 75 84 Age 85 and older2000 0.3 2.4 1.82010 0.3 2.4 2.42020 0.3 2.6 2.82030 0.5 3.8 3.52040 0.4 5.0 5.62050 0.4 4.8 8.0Source: Adapted from Hebert, Scherr, Bienias, Bennett, & Evans, 2003.[End Table 13.1][UNF.p.540-13 goes here]In addition to the human costs of dementia, the financial costs are staggering.Estimates of the costs of caring for people with dementia of the Alzheimer s type areDurand 13-82often quoted about $100 billion per year in the United States.However, this numberdoes not include the costs to businesses for health care in the form of insurance andfor those who care for these individuals estimated to be more than $60 billion in2002 alone (Koppel, 2002) [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]