Early Dementia

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Fifty people are currently diagnosed with early stage dementia every day in Australia alone. Worldwide the figures are staggering, with 34 million people predicted to be sufferers by 2010. This book addresses the need for user-friendly information for people involved with the early stages of dementia-starting with the first thoughts that something might be different, through to diagnosis and dealing with the transitions through changes in life style. The book moves beyond the clinical aspects of the disease and into the hearts and minds of the people affected. It addresses the pertinent issues around diagnosis and what follows and explains what dementia is and how people experience it. Also examined in detail is what can happen, and what positive steps can be taken in the first five years following diagnosis. The book draws upon the experiences of those with the disease and their carers and follows the often slow journey that begins with people being reasonably in control of their life and gradually entering into the period of total destabilisation and loss of control. The purpose is to provide comfort, understanding, insight and hope based on other people's experiences and current research. It should also provide practical guidance to enable sufferers and their carers to develop alternative ways of coping with common situations, which can be both complex and idiosyncratic, and regain a sense of mastery about what has happened or may happen in future.