Busting 4 of the Common Myths About Dementia

Though around 6 million individuals in the United States have a diagnosis of dementia, there are still many things that are not fully understood about the causes of the disease and how it can be better treated or even prevented entirely. There are also things about dementia that are commonly misunderstood. Stereotypes and broad generalizations about the disease can easily spread and become “fact” in the minds of the general public, ignoring the fact that dementia represents many different diagnoses and experiences, and cannot always be summed up in simple terms.

Here are 4 common dementia myths to reconsider:

1.  MYTH 1: When you reach a certain age, dementia is almost inevitable

While most people have plenty of older loved ones in their lives without dementia, there’s still an unfortunate tendency among society as a whole to view older people, especially those over the age of 80, as senile and brain-addled. Older celebrities, politicians, and public figures are often mocked for memory loss if they misspeak or get something confused. In public situations, younger people can get impatient with older folks and assume they don’t understand anything happening or being said.

These reactions are part of a larger problem our society has with ageism. Many of them also stem from our mistaken belief that once people reach a certain age, they likely have dementia, and should thus be treated as if they their mind and thinking aren’t fully sound. 

But one of the most important parts of understanding dementia is understanding that it is NOT a normal part of aging. While it’s perfectly normal for any person to have moments of forgetfulness or confuse details as they age, the severe loss of memory and brain function is not an inevitability or a consequence of reaching a certain age. Though dementia is certainly not uncommon, by no means is it something that every older adult will experience.

When thinking about the prevalence of dementia, keep in mind these statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association instead:

• About 1 in 9 of adults aged 65 and over have Alzheimer’s
• The percentage of people with Alzheimer’s does increase with age—for example, around 13 percent of older adults in the 75 to 84 age range have dementia, compared to 5 percent of older adults in the 65 to 74 age group

2. MYTH 2: If your parent developed dementia, so will you

When you visit a doctor for the first time, one of the questions asked on the patient intake form will be about your family history. This is because many diseases and conditions run in families, like heart disease, asthma and osteoporosis. If your family has a long history of heart disease, you’ll likely need to take extra care to manage your blood pressure and cholesterol, for example.

Dementia is another disease that can set off warning bells when it appears in your family history. In particular, if your parent is diagnosed with dementia, it may seem like the same thing is doomed to happen to you when you’re older.

Sometimes, dementia can indeed by inherited. However, these cases are only a small portion of dementia diagnoses. Because Alzheimer’s is not uncommon among older adults, having multiple family members with a diagnosis can and does happen. However, this does not necessarily mean there is a genetic link between these family cases. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, over 99 percent of Alzheimer’s cases are not inherited, and having a parent or other family member with the disease will not change your risk compared to the rest of the population.

That being said, other, rarer types of dementia do tend to have a greater genetic link:

• According to the Alzheimer’s Association, a faulty gene which causes frontotemporal dementia can be inherited from parent to child. This accounts for about 10 to 15 percent of frontotemporal dementia cases. 
• Early-onset dementia, the development of dementia in those under the age of 65, is associated with inherited mutations in one of three genes.
• Huntington’s Disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease are genetic diseases passed from parent to child that are known to cause dementia

Additionally, certain health conditions found in family histories like high blood pressure, diabetes and Parkinson’s can increase someone’s risk for dementia, though it does not guarantee it.

3. MYTH 3: Dementia is fully preventable with the right lifestyle choices

It’s common to hear about preventative measures to take against dementia in news stories and magazines. Steps like switching to a healthier diet, doing brain puzzles, exercising regularly, cutting back on alcohol and socializing often are all listed as easy things anyone can do to fight back against the possibility of developing dementia.

According to research, there’s evidence that all of these things can work to lower a person’s risk of dementia, especially if there are family history concerns like high blood pressure and diabetes. However, there is no measure that is currently proven to fully prevent dementia. It’s also important to remember that healthy lifestyle choices need to be practiced throughout one’s life as much as possible to have the greatest impact, not just later in life when concerns of dementia seem more pressing.

4. MYTH 4: A person’s life is basically over if they’re diagnosed with dementia

One of the most troubling thoughts that commonly comes after a diagnosis of dementia is that life with dementia “is not really life” and that providing care for someone in its advanced stages is akin to “keeping them alive” past the point where they are having meaningful, valuable experiences. These thoughts can come directly from people with dementia towards themselves, or from friends and loved ones who fear watching someone they care about suffer or change.

Many people have and will continue to debate these questions as ethical dilemmas. The most important thing to remember is that the person with dementia is, throughout the entirety of their disease, a person. They have good days and bad days, they have feelings and emotions, they have times when they laugh and times when they cry. They are fully deserving of dignity, care, and dedicated efforts to keep their quality of life the best it can be. Most of all, they deserve to be seen beyond the label of dementia and recognized for all of the things they still have, rather than everything they’ve lost.