Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 235
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST-PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST
READING PASSAGE – 2
Dementia
What is it?
A. Dementia is the name for conditions and diseases that involve degeneration of memory and difficulties with other higher order thinking skills such as language and problem-solving abilities. Though Alzheimer’s is the most common form at up to 70 per cent of cases, there are other types of dementia and the likelihood of getting any of them increases with age. Thirty million people around the world suffer from Alzheimer’s. There is no known cure and average life expectancy after diagnosis is six years. It is caused by a combination of protein plaques and tangling of neurofibres in the brain that increase over time causing the brain to deteriorate and waste away. It blocks the thinking process, destroys memory and then eventually affects all the body’s processes. The cause is unknown though it seems to be strongly inheritable and affected by factors such as obesity and smoking.
B. Vascular dementia is caused by damage to the brain that occurs when blood flow is restricted. This is usually caused by strokes, which cause lesions on the brain. It is associated with various types of cardiovascular disease and vascular dementia symptoms vary depending on the area of the brain effected, but speech is commonly effected. Of about 30 per cent of people who have a stroke, vascular dementia follows. There is no known cure, though therapy involves treating the cardiovascular disease to impede further strokes, as this is usually the direct cause of death, rather than the dementia itself.
C. Dementia with Lewy bodies is caused by a build-up of proteins in the neural structures of the brain. These are different proteins than those associated with Alzheimer’s. It does not always initially involve memory loss, but usually a change in automatic physical functioning such as lack of sleep, Parkinson’s- like movement difficulties, gastrointestinal dysfunction, personality changes and hallucinations. The percentage of dementia patients with this form is unclear as it is difficult to diagnose, and there is little evidence that there is a genetic factor involved in its onset. Patients many develop one, or a combination of these forms of dementia. For all three, it is progressive and chronic in nature and this decline in cognitive function means that otherwise perfectly healthy bodies have difficulty with comprehension, orientation, learning capacity and judgment, beyond what would be expected with the normal aging process.
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D. Generally, dementia develops in three stages: mild, moderate and severe. In the mild, early stages, dementia can go unnoticed as the person can usually still function independently, being able to manage a house, drive a car and continue to work, but suffers from memory lapses such as forgetting names, and may have problems with organization. These symptoms are usually first noticed by other people rather than the patients themselves and this stage can last for up to 20 years. In the moderate stage, the patient starts showing more obvious symptoms such as loss of bodily functions like bowel and bladder control, an inability to express their emotions, confusion with time, a change in personality and behavior, eating and sleep problems and general apathy. They are no longer independent and will need assistance. In the severe phase, patients stop recognizing family members, are unable to initiate communication, have acute physical problems such as with walking and other motor skills, can no longer dress or bathe themselves and often lose all communication skills. They require complete personal care and usually need to be placed in an institution such as a hospice.
E. Dementia is not only devastating for the people that suffer from it, but it has enormous effect on families and caregivers as well. Of the ten million people that develop the disease each year, 60 per cent of them are in low or middle income countries, according to The World Health Organisation (WHO). This means that a majority of the sufferers of the syndrome are at risk of not receiving adequate care. The global costs of dementia are enormous at an estimated $818 billion annually. Within the next decade this is expected to have more than doubled to 2 trillion dollars. This is the equivalent of the GDP of a country such as France. A global cost like this is enough to completely overwhelm health and social services and cut into economic and social development around the world.
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F. Dementia often goes undiagnosed in the early stages. This leads to underfunding for national dementia programmes because the extent of the syndrome is underestimated. Beyond care for dementia patients, there is also the need to invest in finding a cure. However, doing this – which is probably a long way off- is not the only reason for research but also to help understand what causes dementia, how to prevent it and to make early diagnoses to treat the condition. If a way can be found to slow or even halt the growth in dementia cases, the syndrome will be less of a burden on communities.
G. Women are more susceptible to dementia than men, and as female life spans are longer it means that many women develop dementia without the support of a spouse or partner. Thus, the burden falls on the younger generation to provide care, which can be difficult for modern nuclear families with two working adults. At first it was hypothesized that there were more cases of dementia in females because of their greater longevity, with more of them living into the more vulnerable age groups, but this is not supported by statistics. It is now believed that there may be unique biological causes for these differences beyond longevity alone. More work needs to be done to protect the vulnerable and find new ways of combating this widespread disease.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
NB You may use any letter more than once.
14. The progressive forms of dementia
15. Gender differences causing care problems
16. A type of dementia probably caused by another disease
17. A form of dementia that causes people to see things that are not there
18. The financial burden
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Questions 19-22
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Dementia – forms and stages
The great majority of cases of dementia are 19…………. , which is caused by gradual destruction of brain matter, but there are two other main forms called vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.
Vascular dementia is usually caused by a series of 20…………. that damage the brain, and dementia with Lewy bodies is caused by an excess of proteins that accumulate on the neural structures.
In the mild stage of dementia, suffers can generally function normally but with some memory problems.
In the moderate stage, they can no longer be independent due to loss of control of 21…………. And general confusion, which makes normal life difficult to manage.
The severe state needs total 22…………. and results in the eventual loss of most mental and physical faculties.
Questions 23-26
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
23. Apart from the people with dementia, who else suffers from its effects?
24. What will the annual world cost of dementia be in ten years?
25. Apart from the expense of dementia programmes, what is another associated cost?
26. What are the current reasons believed for why women suffer from more dementia than men?
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ANSWERS ARE BELOW
ANSWERS
14. D
15. G
16. V
17. C
18. E
19. ALZHEIMER’S
20. STROKES
21. BODILY FUNCTION
22. PERSONAL CARE
23. FAMILIES AND CAREGIVERS
24. TRILLON DOLLARS
25. FINDING A CURE
26. UNIQUE BIOLOGICAL CAUSES
IELTS Academic Reading Test