Dementia In Children

By Author: Jasonl Morrow
Total Articles: 1
Comment this article

The popular perception of dementia is that it is strictly "an old person's disease,"with the picture in our mind narrowing it's focus on that of a confused senior citizen with Alzheimer's disease, struggling to get through a life that was once much simpler, and easier to understand. It's an image that few people want to face for ourselves, or for our parents, grandparents and other family members and friends. But imagine this illness,with it's memory loss,confusion, and inability to perform common daily functions, in a child.

Yes,a child.

Before one can imagine this horrible possibility,understand that there are 5 main types of dementia:Cortical Dementia, Subcortical Dementia, Progressive Dementia, Primary Dementia and Secondary Dementia. In the first four types,dementia is the primary disease. With secondary dementia, there is another disease present and dementia is one of the symptoms, or possible symptoms. Dementia in children can be considered as a secondary dementia in which there is a condition that leads to dementia like symptoms.

Dementia is basically a neurodegenerative disorder in which there is ...
... a decline in mental and cognitive abilities.This means that the patient had previously learned skills and abilities,but begin to lose those skills and abilities with the onset of a disease that carries dementia like symptoms.Some childhood diseases strike so early that there is no regression of learned abilities, but rather,conditions are present which prevent them from progressing in mental functioning and mobility.

There are many types of childhood diseases and disorders which can lead to dementia and we examine some of the more frequently occurring below.

Niemann-Pick Disease: Niemann-Pick disease is an inherited disorder in children in which the metabolism malfunctions to the point that cholesterol and lipids can't be metabolized, leading to a their build up on the liver, spleen and brain. A number of symptoms develop after these organs are affected including: confusion, slurred speech, learning problems, memory loss, dysphagia, and dementia. Type A of NPD is always fatal, while the prognosis for those with type B is often good. Survival rates for type C and D are mixed.

Lafora Body Disease is a rare, inherited genetic disorder in which Lafora bodies (microscopic elements) are present on the brain, liver spleen and muscle tissues of children between the ages of 6 to 19. This often leads to seizures, mobility, and dementia. Death usually occurs within 10 years.

Batten Disease is an inherited and rare neurodegenerative disorder that develops in childhood and is unfortunately, always fatal. Symptoms can appear between the ages for 4 and 10 and manifest themselves with the dementia like symptoms of behavioral changes, difficulty in school and learning, clumsiness, repetitive speech, mental impairment, blindness and immobility.

Mitochondrial myopathy is a mitochondrial disease that affects the muscle fibers of patients,leading to cognitive impairment and dementia as it's major symptoms. Other symptoms include deafness, blindness, droopy eyelids, immobility of the eyes, seizures and vomiting. Most cases of mitochondrial myopathy begin before the age of 20 and become evident during exercise with muscle weakness, nausea, breathlessness, and headaches. This disorder can lead to death, but not in all cases.

Rasmussen's encephalitis is a rare disease in which inflammation will occur in one hemisphere of the brain. The symptoms are similar to the diseases mentioned above in that the young patient, (usually under the age of 10), will suffer from seizures, impaired mobility, speech problems, paralysis (on one side of the body), and mental and cognitive deterioration. Although it is not fatal, the effects of this disease are usually life-long. Recent thinking on Rasmussen's encephalitis is that it is an autoimmune disease which has refocused the medication to suppress or modulate the immune system, which has seen some success. Surgery to control the seizures may also be a possible treatment approach.

Sanfilippo syndrome is an inherited disease in which the metabolism is unable to break down certain sugar molecules. Sanfilippo syndrome belongs to a group of diseases called mucopolysaccharidoses or MPS. There are 4 types of MPS of which Sanfilippo syndrome is an MPS III type. Further, there are 4 types of Sanfilippo syndrome, Types A, B, C, and D. Incidence rates place MPS III at one in every 70,000 births and symptoms often appear in the first year, with a decline in learning ability between the ages of 2 and 6. Behavioral problems, delayed development, mental retardation, blindness, seizures and shortened height are common symptoms.

Juvenile Huntington's disease is the young people's version of a mostly adult disease. Approximately six percent of all Huntington's disease cases begin in children and adolescents below the age of 21. Cognitive impairment might only occur in some JHD patients.

Other types of neurodegenerative disorders which can lead to dementia like symptoms in children include: Alexander disease, Schilder's disease, Tay Sach's disease, Canavan disease, juvenile Huntington's disease, Rett syndrome and Adrenoleukodystrophy.

There doesn't appear to be a support organization for the umbrella concept of dementia in children, but there are specific associations and support groups for the most of the diseases mentioned. These can be found online.

Jason L Morrow is the founder and editor of OmniMedicalSearch.com where you can learn more about the symptoms of dementia.