As we begin to care for our parents, the cycle of life begins to come around, full circle. It can be very frightening when we imagine someone we love forgetting cherished memories or not being able to even recognize someone very close to him. As we live longer, it is an inescapable fact that older-age dementia is something we cannot afford to forget.

Dementia care is not easy. It is especially difficult if you have to care for a loved one yourself without the expertise to do it well. A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control in 2009 showed that 25% of caregivers for adults over age 50 are looking after someone with cognitive impairment or dementia.

This statistic is a stunning one, but there is also hope. Learning about the underlying causes of dementia can give caregivers a heads up to the signs of illness and help make sure their loved one is being taken care of properly.

One out of every three seniors passes away from Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. Alzheimers care centers all around the country are becoming more and more aware of the first stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Figuring out a dementia care plan early on can really help a patient when it comes to treatment.

As the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, Alzheimer’s disease takes the lives of both men and women. If fact, 66% or two-thirds of Alzheimer’s sufferers are women. We might often wonder what we could have done differently to keep an elderly loved-one safe from the ravages of memory loss. It is important to remember, however, that many of the causes of dementia are factors we have very little to no control over. Good dementia care gets to the heart of caring for someone with dementia now while learning from the past about what might be able to be useful in treatment plans.

A good number of the most common types of dementia go together with or are linked to diseases or conditions that have some sort of genetic component. Several recent studies indicate that there are genetic risk factors for developing Alzheimer’s disease.

There are other causes of dementia that have been linked to genetics such as Huntington’s disease and frontotemporal dementia, also know as Pick’s disease. What’s important to remember when taking these things into consideration, however, is that a genetic disposition does not mean that the genes cause the disease. It simply means that the individual with a predisposition might be prone to developing the disease in later life.

Some causes of dementia come about from conditions that are quite treatable. Poisoning, vitamin deficiencies, medication reactions, nutritional disorders and even chronic lung problems can become the cause of temporary dementia. Being able and available to keep an eye on an elderly loved one can help spot the causes of dementia early. If the causes are known early, better success in treatment is what can be hoped for.