Occasional forgetfulness can still be considered normal even at old age. But when frequently having difficulties in remembering things, following conversations, and recalling names, it is no longer normal. These incidences can be considered as early signs of dementia. Dementia is totally preventable, or at least its progression can be delayed. Dementia may develop into Alzheimer’s disease.
Contrary to what many believe, dementia is not a disease but a mental condition that severely impairs a person’s mental ability to process information. This condition interferes with everyday functionality. It can affect anyone at any age – yes, even children – but is more common in the elderly. Most people don’t recognize the early signs of dementia until they begin to feel the obvious symptoms such as memory loss.
Early symptoms of Dementia
• Memory loss
It is normal for everyone to forget appointments, names or telephone numbers once in a while, but a person susceptible to dementia displays forgetfulness more often. This symptom can interfere with the daily normal tasks, like forgetting to cook food, or failing to remember to pick up the kids at school. These lapses become unhealthy and can be very alarming.
• Difficulty in doing familiar tasks
Doing familiar things everyday becomes second nature. When you regularly cook food everyday, it becomes part of your routine. For a person suffering from dementia, he/she doesn’t just forget to cook lunch or dinner, but they fails to remember how to cook altogether. This is one serious sign of dementia that no one can miss.
• Communication or language problem
It’s normal for people to sometimes forget thoughts or words that they are about to say; but a person with dementia not just gets lost in his thought process, but has a hard time constructing thoughts and sentences. As a result, words sometimes come out wrong or are difficult to understand. At times the person has trouble following a normal conversation.
• Disoriented sense of time, place, and person
A person with dementia tends to have an indistinct sense of time and place. He/she forgets what time it is or what day; or sometimes the person gets lost around a familiar neighborhood. A person with dementia often can’t recognize familiar faces or individuals.
• Changes in judgment abilities
Changes in the capacity to make good judgment is one of the alarming signs of dementia. This cannot only do harm to the afflicted individual but to other people as well.
• Misplacing things
Occasionally misplacing things is not out of the ordinary; but when this recurs regularly in inappropriate places, it can be considered as one of the early signs of dementia.
• Personality changes
It’s normal for people to change at some point in their lives; but a person with dementia tends to become more moody, fearful, irritable, and uncommunicative. This may lead to isolation or social withdrawal.
• Loss of initiative
Losing interest in previously enjoyed games or activities is another sign of dementia.
When experiencing such symptoms as aforementioned, one should consult a doctor. Many mental conditions manifest similar symptoms as the early signs of dementia. Correct diagnosis is very important to ensure that the appropriate treatment is employed.
I don’t know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everybody else encountering problems
with your blog. It looks like some of the written text within your
posts are running off the screen. Can someone
else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well?
This could be a issue with my browser because I’ve had this happen previously.
Kudos