Quiz Time: What Do You Really Know About Dementia?
I’m working on turning the six chapters of my course, Everything I Wish I Had Known: Caring for a Loved One with Alzheimer’s or Other Dementia, into six individual presentations that I will teach in a seminar-type setting
It’s truly my objective to help people understand what dementia is—and what it isn’t—as well as encouraging healthy lifestyle habits which may help prevent dementia’s onset, if not avoid developing the symptoms altogether. But even with the enormity of available information from reliable professional medical organizations, it’s staggering how many people talk about the condition without having any real understanding of it.
This “disconnect” is actually very understandable because dementia is so multi-facetted. Just for giggles, take my little informative—but highly unscientific—quiz and see what you really know about dementia:
Quiz Question 1:
Can you name the most frequently diagnosed dementia type?
A) Lewy Body Dementia B) Alzheimer’s
Quiz Question 2:
When your loved one begins to experience Sundowning, it may be helpful to ___.
A) Turn on some lamps B) Turn off some lamps
Quiz Question 3:
Dementia with Lewy Bodies is frequently accompanied by ___, something not often encountered with other dementia types.
A) Visual hallucinations B) Syncope (Fainting)
Quiz Question 4:
Six in ten people living with dementia will ___ at least once.
A) Forget their caregiver B) Wander
Quiz Question 5:
___ is a condition that often accompanies dementia.
A) Vertigo B) Anxiety
So, how did you do? You can check your answers at the bottom of this article.
Ok, so this was pretty easy, what with having only two choices per question, but this is a good time for you to ask yourself some tough questions. If your loved one began showing signs of forgetting things, increased agitation or sudden, unexplained mood swings, do you feel that you’re prepared to care for them if the diagnosis is dementia?
Education truly is a huge part of caregiving. When you have more understanding about your loved one’s condition, you will have a better grasp on how to help them as they progress through the condition. There are a number of great resources available—my course being one of them! Also, talking with your loved one’s doctor is a great place to start. The doctor has all of your loved one’s medical records, and they can guide you as they perform testing to determine what, if anything, is actually going on.
Don’t sit and wonder if there’s a problem. Set about getting the answers you need today; you never know at what point that information might come in really handy.
Answers:
- B; 2) A; 3) A; 4) B; 5) B