12.Practice.Tests.for.the.SAT_2015-2016_1128p

Section 6
876 Practice Test Ten
Questions 10-20 are based on the following passage.
The fo llowing is adapted from an article written for
fa mily caretakers of sufferers from dementia, a group of
diseases that affects some elderly people.
Historically, a variety of terms have been used
to describe the symptoms of forgetfulness and
loss of reasoning ability that occur as people age.
Line These include organic brain syndrome, hard-
(5) ening of the arteries, chronic brain syndrome,
Alzheimer's disease, and senility. Increasingly
however, the medical profession has grouped
these diseases under a single name-dementia.
Derived from Latin roots meaning away and
(1 O) mind, dementia refers to a loss or impairment
of mental powers. Some of the diseases that fall
under the heading of dementia are treatable, while
others are not. (Thyroid disease, for example, may
cause symptoms of dementia that can be reversed
(15) with the proper medication.) The symptoms of
dementia can be divided broadly into those that
affect memory and those that affect thoughts and
feelings, though the division is not an entirely neat
one. Both types of symptoms can influence behav-
(20) ior. A deeper understanding of the causes and
effects of dementia is vital for those who care for
its sufferers, and, where possible, for the sufferers
themselves.
Many people are surprised to learn that severe
(25) memory loss in older adults is not part of the
normal aging process. In fact, a vast majority of
the people who survive into their eighties and
nineties never experience significant memory loss
or other symptoms of dementia. Fifteen percent
(30) of older adults suffer from milder impairments as
the result of dementia, and only 5 percent suffer
from a severe intellectual impairment. It's also
important to note that not all areas of memory are
affected equally by dementia. Research shows that
(35) the mind stores and processes fact-based memories
differently from memories of emotions, and
that dementia can damage one kind of memory
without damaging the other. Furthermore, highly
developed social skills are often retained longer
( 40) than are insight and judgment, making earlystage
dementia difficult to diagnose. Short-term
memory is usually affected earlier than long-term
memory, a seemingly paradoxical situation in
which dementia sufferers vividly recall childhood
(45) memories but are unable to remember that morning's
breakfast menu. This is especially frustrating,
since the sufferers often feel otherwise mentally
fit. Eventually, however, severe memory loss
becomes debilitating and sabotages sufferers as
(50) they attempt even routine tasks.
While memory loss by itself can lead to anxiety
and depression, these feelings are often instead
directly caused by biochemical changes that result
from dementia. Patients often feel inexplicably
(55) lost, vulnerable, and helpless. Biochemical changes
can also lead to suspicion or even full-blown paranoia,
alienating caretakers and loved ones. These
feelings of paranoia sometimes lead sufferers to
hide valuables from imagined dangers, only to
( 60) then forget the hiding places, a problem familiar
to many caregivers. It's especially important to
identify paranoia and depression that is biochemical
in nature rather than that caused by frustration
and memory loss, since biochemical paranoia and
( 65) depression can often be at least partially relieved
by medication.
Because the symptoms of dementia are so
dramatic and distressing, both for the sufferer
and those around him or her, people who care
(70) for people with dementia need to be especially
patient, with both the sufferer and themselves.
'
This is particularly true when the caregiver is
a loved one. When the sufferer is the victim of
irrational paranoid delusions, for example, the
(75) caregiver should understand these delusions are
symptoms of the illness. Confronting the patent
about this irrationality will only worsen the situation.
Instead, it's often more helpful to deflect the
situation by involving the patient in a pleasant,
(80) absorbing task. Caregivers also need to monitor
their own behavior and feelings. They are under
extreme stress and should avail themselves of family
and professional support networks.
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