Studies involving 13,000 people over the age of 65 years were conducted between the years 1991 and 2005 to enable doctors understand dementia and how long patients could live with it. During this period, 438 people developed AD or other forms of dementia. Then, 81% of those who developed dementia died before the study was completed.
The average dementia life expectancy for patients with Alzheimer disease is also affected by several factors. A healthy person who has been diagnosed with dementia prior reaching the age of 70 is expected to live for 10 more years. But a person after reaching 90 years is diagnosed with dementia will only live for 4 more years.
Thus the level of care, overall health and individual's age also plays a major role in determining the life expectancy of people suffering from dementia. There are several stages of dementia through which a person goes and every stage is marked by further decline in the memory and cognitive abilities.
During the final stage of dementia, the life expectancy of the individual will start diminishing rapidly as he or she will lose his or her ability to respond to the environment. The early onset of dementia may also be due to other syndromes and diseases as it determines the dementia life expectancy in an individual.
The most common causes of dementia in individual between the age of 45 years and 65 years are human immunodeficiency (HIV), Huntington's disease and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Individual who develops dementia brought by multiple sclerosis is expected to live about seven years lesser than people who don't have dementia. The life span of individual with Huntington disease related dementia is expected to live for 15 years. Individual with HIV and developed dementia has a life expectancy of 25 years but with the condition that he or she does not succumb to the other effects of this virus.
Studies support the use of puzzles as well as other forms of mental fitness exercises to help prevent or delay dementia. Individuals who engage their mental beings with exercises can significantly delay the development of dementia.
The other factors that increases the chances of having dementia includes high blood pressure, multiple strokes and other risks factors as it can shorten the life expectancy of an individual. Thus the dementia life expectancy in a person depends on the causes of the disease and the area of the brain it has affected.
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