Dementia- Early Signs
Dementia does more than rob people of their memories. Research continues to show that this complicated condition is marked by a number of symptoms- especially at the onset- but they’re not always easy to recognize.
From frequent falling, to failing to recognize sarcasm, some of dementia’s early warning signs are subtle. How can you know if you or a loved one is showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease or other form of dementia?
Take a look at some of the earliest signs of dementia—you may be surprised.
1)Frequent falling-
Constantly tripping ove your own 2 feet? Everyone falls now and again, but frequent falling could be an early signal of Alzheimer’s disease, according to research. The results of 2011 study showed that those participants who exhibited early signs of Alzheimer’s also happened to fall down more often.
People with this movement disorder, known as progressive supranuclear palsy, might not catch themselves on the way down either, making this dementia even more dangerous.
2) Disregard for the law-
Some younger people at the beginning stages of early-onset dementia lose their sense of social norms. Shoplifting, breaking into someone’s house, and inappropriate interpersonal behaviours, such as sexual comments or actions, all make the list of surprising dementia symptoms and they can lead to legal trouble too.
Early-onset dementia can hit people as early as their thirties and forties, well before anyone around them would consider their out-of-character, law-breaking behaviours as signs of dementia.
3) Missing sarcasm-
You may or may not appreciate sarcastic senses of humour, but sarcasm is a part of our culture. Research found that people with both frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer’s disease tend to have a harder time picking up or sarcasm.
Another unusual sign of dementia was that people with FTD couldn’t tell when someone was lying, although people with Alzheimer’s disease could tell. FTD patients don’t have that sense anymore that things people do could turn out badly.
4) Staring
Reduced gaze is the clinical for the dementia symptom that alters people’s ability to move their eyes normally. We all move our eyes and track with them frequently.
But people showing early signs of dementia look like they’re staring a lot. They try to read and they skip lines. This is one of the signs of dementia that the patient might not completely be aware of, although people around them probably will be.
5) Losing knowledge
Now and again, most people find themselves desperately searching for the right word. In fact, failing to find the word you’re thinking of is surprisingly common and not necessarily a sign of dementia.
But losing knowledge of objects- not just what they are called, but also what they’re used for- is an early dementia symptom/ oddly enough, people who are losing this knowledge can be very competent in other areas of their lives.
6) Eating objects-
One surprising early sign of dementia is eating nonfood objects or foods that are rancid or spoiled. This is partly because the person forgets what to do with the things in front of them.
For e.g., dementia patients might try to eat the flower in a vase on a restaurant table because they know they’re there to eat, but don’t know what the flower is doing there. Unlike some other Alzheimer’s symptoms or dementia symptoms, this one has few other likely explanations.
7) Losing sympathy
If someone who is usually sweet, considerate, and polite starts to say insulting or inappropriate things- and shows no awareness of their inappropriateness or concern or regret about what they’ve said- they could be exhibiting an early sign of dementia.
In the early stages of some types of dementia, symptoms can include losing the ability to read social cues and therefore, the ability to understand why it’s not acceptable to say hurtful things.