It is estimated that dementia affects 55 million people worldwide. This number is expected to double over the next two decades. A huge challenge is therefore quick diagnosis of dementia, because only efficient diagnostics can slow down their development. It may be helpful to observe the behavior and problems that we or our loved ones struggle with. Five of them occur in most patients with early-stage dementia.
- Dementia is a group of dementia disorders characterized by, inter alia, a significant reduction in mental abilities. The most common form of it is Alzheimer’s disease
- According to conservative estimates, by 2030, dementia will affect 78 million people worldwide, by 2050, it will affect 139 million people
- Among the most common signs of dementia is memory loss. Initially, it takes the form of a harmless but frequent forgetting, e.g. where we put something, but with time it deepens – the patient forgets the names of relatives, does not know where he lives or what year it is.
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Memory loss
Not every situation in which we forget something is a sign of dementia. Forgetting can have many causes, the most common being rush and distraction, stress, or simply lack of sleep. Unless it happens often and it doesn’t worsen, it shouldn’t worry us.
The problem arises when episodes of even temporary memory loss occur frequently and have no explanation. The forgetting that threatens our or someone else’s safety is also definitely worrying, e.g. when we leave the house and do not know how to return to it or why we left.
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Dr. Samantha Holden, a neuroscientist and researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, says it’s crucial to find out where the changes in memory come from. – What is their basis? Has there been a change or deterioration in thinking and memory over time in relation to the past? It’s not that there have always been some memory deficits, such as learning difficulties, but that the person has done well before and now they are not, she explains.
Confusion
Often times when we are in a situation where we do not know what someone meant or what they are aiming for, we say that we are confused. But the confusion that is a sign of dementia goes much further. It is about losing awareness of oneself (one’s own identity) and / or a place or time, e.g. where we are, which day of the week, month or year.
At first, the signs of confusion are subtle, but here too, the condition worsens over time. The feeling of being lost leads to the inability to find oneself in many everyday situations. The sick person withdraws into himself and feels misunderstood.
Confusion is a common problem in people over 65 and is associated with a natural decline in cognitive ability. Sometimes, however, it takes an acute or chronic form and this should be a signal to consult a doctor. Importantly, confusion can also be a symptom of other diseases, e.g. depression, illness
The rest of the text below the video.
Trouble sleeping
For seniors, problems with falling asleep, waking up at night and waking up early are almost everyday life. They are associated with the different work of the brain and the changed needs of the body, but also with many diseases of this age.
One of them is dementia, for which trouble sleeping is one of the earliest symptoms. – Sleep disorders can be diagnosed with a special examination. Very often it turns out that a person who has had problems falling asleep for years suffers from Parkinson’s disease or LBD, or dementia with Lewy bodies – says Dr. James Leverenz of the Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (USA).
Also in this case, the key is to answer the questions: are sleep disorders chronic, do they occur irregularly, have a negative impact on functioning during the day, or do not affect the performance of various activities and mental abilities in the long term.
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It is worth remembering that the consequences of sleep problems do not have to be visible immediately, so it is good to observe your body and combine potential ailments with such situations.
Hallucinations
Dementia can also manifest itself as hallucinations. T.o disturbance of the senses, most often sight or hearing (although it may also affect the other senses), characterized by a false perception of reality.
Hallucinations are not the domain of dementia diseases, they occur in many psychological disorders. In dementia, they often take a seemingly harmless form. – Patients cannot fall asleep because they are afraid of something that is not there. Some even call the police when they feel threatened, ‘says Dr. Leverenz.
It is important to catch the symptom in time and consult it with a doctor. It is certainly easier to see it in other people than at home, which is why in the diagnosis of dementia it is so important to support relatives who know the patient best and know which behaviors are unusual for them.
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Loss of sense of humor
This symptom may be difficult to recognize because a sense of humor is a very individual, subjective matter. There are people who “do not know how to joke” all their lives, there are also those who are bursting with humor.
Therefore, the key to diagnosing disorders in this area is to refer to the situation from weeks, months and years ago. If a person who has not had problems recognizing and understanding a joke so far does not respond to it today, this may be a reason for further observation.
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