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Dementia: Why You Should Have Read Good Books Lately

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There’s no cure for dementia. But a study recently published in the journal Neurology found evidence to suggest reading, writing and playing games throughout your life can slow the disease's progress. Dr. Kevin Conner, a neurologist and the director of the Stroke Center at Texas Health Arlington Memorial hospital, explains why in this edition of Vital Signs. 

Causes, symptoms and treatment of Dementia:

There are several situations that could cause dementia:

  • Diseases that cause degeneration or loss of nerve cells in the brain such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's.
  • Diseases that affect blood vessels, such as stroke, which can cause a disorder known as multi-infarct dementia.
  • Toxic reactions, like excessive alcohol or drug use.
  • Nutritional deficiencies, like vitamin B12 and folate deficiency.
  • Infections that affect the brain and spinal cord, such as AIDS dementia complex and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
  • Certain types of hydrocephalus, an accumulation of fluid in the brain that can result from developmental abnormalities, infections, injury, or brain tumors.
  • Head injury -- either a single severe head injury or chronic smaller injuries that often occur from boxing.
  • Illnesses other than in the brain, such as kidney, liver, and lung diseases, can all lead to dementia.

Which Dementias Are Treatable?

What Are Some of the Untreatable Causes of Dementia?

  • Alzheimer's disease.
  • Multi-infarct dementia (Dementia due to multiple small strokes).
  • Dementias associated with Parkinson's disease and similar disorders.
  • AIDS dementia complex.
  • Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a quickly progressing and fatal disease that consists of dementia and muscle twitching and spasm.

- WebMD.com

How Exercise And Other Activities Beat Back Dementia

Educating the Brain to Avoid Dementia: Can Mental Exercise Prevent Alzheimer Disease?

Dementia Brain Tour

Sam Baker is KERA's senior editor and local host for Morning Edition. The native of Beaumont, Texas, also edits and produces radio commentaries and Vital Signs, a series that's part of the station's Breakthroughs initiative. He also was the longtime host of KERA 13’s Emmy Award-winning public affairs program On the Record. He also won an Emmy in 2008 for KERA’s Sharing the Power: A Voter’s Voice Special, and has earned honors from the Associated Press and the Public Radio News Directors Inc.