Dr. Frank McDonald, a neurologist at the Longstreet Clinic, said that the disease has gained recognition: "The reason we're probably hearing more about dementia is that as the population ages, more people tend to have dementia because it tends to be a disease of older people. It's also recognized more than it once was."
According to the Alzheimer's Association website, an estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer's Disease in 2013.
"The number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias will grow as the U.S. population age 65 and older continues to increase," the organization's website states.
In Georgia, 2,080 people died from Alzheimer's disease in 2010; it's also the 6th leading cause of death in the United States.
Any person that has memory loss and is able to walk is at risk to wander off, according to the Alzheimer's Association website. The website also states roughly three out of five patients will wander and that it can happen at any stage of the illness.
Those who wander typically will show signs, such as wanting to go home when they are already home, restlessness or make repetitive movements, attempting to carry out past duties (such as going to work), or asking the whereabouts of friends or family.
The website suggests preventing wandering by carrying on routines as normal, reassuring the person, ensuring basic needs are met (such as meals and bathroom breaks), avoiding busy or disorienting places, ensuring keys are safely put away and that the patient is supervised. Caregivers should also exercise patience with their loved one.
A plan should be in place if the person has a tendency to wander: keep a current, up-to-date photo of the person, medical information and a list on emergency numbers on hand; keep a list of the places a person may wander (former jobs, places of worship, etc.) and whether they are left or right handed, as people tend to wander towards their dominant hand; provide the person with a medical ID bracelet with updated information or consider a GPS device if the wandering becomes a serious problem. Finally, contact emergency dispatch. A wandering person with dementia is considered a "vulnerable adult."
"Everybody as they get older has trouble just remembering somebody's name or number or where you put something," said Dr. McDonald. "But that's just normal memory loss from aging. Alzheimer's patients usually have significant disability from their memory."
Dementia is a fairly blanket term for several illnesses, including Alzheimer's.
"Dementia is not a specific disease. It's an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities," according to the Alzheimer's Association website.
Dementia is caused by damage to the brain cells, resulting in the inability of those cells to communicate with each other. Different types of dementia cause different types of cell damage. Alzheimer's is the most common, with about 60-80 per cent of cases.
Other types of dementia include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), mixed dementia, Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia, Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, Huntington's disease and Wernicke-Kosakoff Syndrome. (See link below)
There are several things that can be done to protect those with the illness, ranging from monitoring the patient to medication to 24-hour care.
"Quite often we will do what's called neurocognative testing... and that gives us a good idea of a patient's cognative capability but also of their judgement and behavior," Dr. McDonald said. "That can help us know if the patient needs 24-hour supervision or do they need somebody supervising their medicine or something as simple as a medication reminder."
Information from the Alzheimer's Association and Dr. Frank McDonald contributed to this report.
Link: Alzheimer's Association
Link: Dr. Frank McDonald
Link: Types of Dementia Fact Sheet
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