Learning of a loved one’s dementia diagnosis can be upsetting and challenging for the entire family. Even more distressing is rapid-onset dementia, which is where symptoms arise and progress quicker than expected.
If your loved one is experiencing sudden symptoms or has been recently diagnosed with rapid-onset dementia, you may have questions about their future and management options. Today, we’ll explore the causes, symptoms and next steps to hopefully alleviate some of your concerns.
What is rapid-onset dementia?
Rapid-onset dementia usually refers to a rapidly progressive dementia, with symptoms becoming increasingly severe at a quicker rate than is typical. All types of dementia are progressive and will get more severe over time, but each stage can last a different length of time depending on several factors.
For example, most types of dementia can take several years to progress from early to middle-stage, then several more years to become advanced. However, rapid-onset dementia can take mere weeks or months to cycle through the stages.
If your loved one’s dementia symptoms progress to an advanced stage within 1 to 2 years, they may be diagnosed with rapidly progressive dementia. However, healthcare professionals often have varied definitions of this, and the diagnosis could depend on the speed of cognitive decline and other health issues.
What causes rapid-onset dementia?
Watching a loved one rapidly decline from dementia is incredibly distressing, especially when you don’t understand what’s causing such a quick reaction. Rapid-onset dementia can be caused by the type of dementia your loved one has or an underlying condition.
H3 Underlying conditions
There are several underlying conditions that can cause the rapid progression of dementia, including:
- Vascular issues: Certain ailments, such as strokes, vascular disease or high blood pressure, can reduce blood flow to the brain and accelerate its progression.
- Infections: Infections can compromise the immune system and utilize the body’s energy stores to fight, thereby allowing dementia to progress more rapidly.
- Autoimmune Conditions: These conditions can require a significant amount of energy from the body, potentially leading to accelerated cognitive decline.
- Toxic or metabolic influences: Alcohols, heavy metals and certain medications might exacerbate symptoms like delirium, confusion and agitation.
- Seizures: Seizure activity in the brain can reduce cognitive decline and speed up certain symptoms of dementia.
The above causes often contribute to frailty in the elderly, indicating that the brain is less resilient to damage, which accelerates cognitive decline and symptoms. Frailty signifies overall systematic decline, making the brain more vulnerable to dementia.
Types of dementia
Every type of dementia will progress at its own pace, meaning that they all can progress faster than the typical timeline. Your loved one’s dementia is unique to them and the rate of progression often depends on their age and other health factors.
However, one rarer type of dementia called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is known for causing rapid cognitive decline. This is a type of prion disease, which means it negatively impacts the prion protein in the brain and destroys its cells.
CJD is an extremely rare type of dementia, occurring in approximately one in 1 million people globally each year. Still, studies have found that it could be one of the most prominent types of rapid-onset dementia.
What are the early symptoms of rapid-onset dementia?
The symptoms of rapid-onset dementia are often the same as the signs, symptoms and stages of other types of dementia. The only difference is that they progress much faster.
Early signs to be aware of include:
- Short-term memory loss
- Changes in mood, such as mood swings, depression and anxiety
- Difficulty finding the right words
- Poor judgment and difficulty completing tasks independently
- Repetition when communicating
- Confusion and disorientation
When compared to slow-progressing dementia, such as Alzheimer’s, research indicated that individuals with rapid-onset dementia experience a faster decline in neuropsychological tests that measure factors like working memory, language, attention and executive functioning.
Can rapid-onset dementia be treated?
Once diagnosed, your loved one’s doctor will most likely carry out a series of neurological evaluations and laboratory tests to determine the cause of their rapid deterioration. However, the goal often isn’t a cure.
Management of the condition becomes more important to slow the progression as much as possible and maximise quality of life. Treatments will differ depending on the type of dementia your loved one has, but ultimately will be used to keep them comfortable.
This might be done with a mix of treatments, including:
- Medications to slow the onset of symptoms
- Speech therapy for help with communication
- Supportive therapies to minimise emotional impact
- Occupational therapy to maintain independence
- Treatments for additional symptoms, such as insomnia and anxiety
Can a person with rapid-onset dementia live at home?
While the idea of your loved one living alone at home can be unnerving, it’s more than possible for individuals with rapid-onset dementia to stay in their familiar surroundings after their diagnosis.
You can equip their home with assistive technology and consider professional care to encourage independence and ensure safety, allowing your loved one to remain calm and comfortable.
Individuals with rapid-onset dementia may need more help as their symptoms become more severe:
- Increased support: Additional help may be needed for daily activities, potentially necessitating a needs assessment from local social services or a private home carer.
- Home modifications: Reduce fall risks, improve lighting and use clear labels for items and rooms to encourage independence at home.
- Early care planning: Discuss specialised dementia care at home or explore memory care options while your loved one can communicate their wishes.
- Strong support system: Involve your loved one’s family, friends and professional home carers for ample companionship and emotional support.
- Patient communication: When talking with your loved one, be empathetic, patient and clear to reduce confusion and agitation.
- Technology: Use apps for reminders, medication dispensers and fall detection sensors for safety.
- Dependable routines: Establish consistent daily schedules to minimise confusion and reduce anxiety.
Continue reading about how to create a dementia-friendly home in our helpful guide.
How Trinity Homecare Can Help
At Trinity Homecare, we take pride in providing bespoke, comprehensive care for our clients and their families. We’ll match your loved one with a fully trained, compassionate carer who has experience in dementia care. Our one-on-one support ensures they can develop a strong, trusting bond with their carer.
The care we provide includes:
- One-to-one support at home
- Completely bespoke live-in care that has been tailored to you
- Specialist care for a number of different circumstances
- Home carers carefully matched to your needs
- CQC rated ‘Outstanding’ live-in care services
Our carers strive to foster independence with respect and dignity every day, whether you require visiting or live-in care services. When the time comes, we can seamlessly transition to palliative care, too, minimising disruption for your loved one.
Talk to Trinity Homecare Today
If your loved one requires home care, chat with one of our friendly care team today. We offer a free, no-obligation enquiry and assessment service and are happy to offer information and advice to help you find the perfect home care solution.
Call us on 0207 183 4884 in confidence for a free no obligation quotation. If enquiring outside of our opening hours, please complete our online form and we will contact you the next day.
