A doctor has urged people to look out for the “common” signs of dementia, which could help prompt an early diagnosis. While these symptoms can “vary” depending on the affected person, they should prompt you to seek help from a professional.
Dementia is a syndrome, or a group of associated symptoms, linked with the ongoing decline of the brain.
In the UK it is thought to affect more than 940,000 people, while this figure is expected to rise due to our ageing population.
As with any condition, the sooner you spot the signs, the sooner you can get the advice and support needed to manage the symptoms. However, doing so can be tricky.
Speaking on BBC Morning Live, Doctor Punam Krishan shared more about detecting the condition.
She listed seven key symptoms as a starting point:
- Memory loss
- Difficulty finding words
- Confusion with time or place
- Trouble with everyday tasks
- Poor judgement
- Mood changes
- Misplacing things
But she explained that there is nuance to these symptoms. She said: “The symptoms very much can vary because there are different types of dementia. Also, other conditions can also cause similar symptoms, especially in younger people.
“It’s important to know what to look out for.” Dr Punam detailed more about what each symptom could actually look like, starting with memory loss.
She continued: “So some of the common early symptoms we’re starting off with is memory loss. Now this can be forgetting recent events or conversations that you’ve had with people.”
She warned that many people might lose their orientation with time. “They can lose track of dates but also places, getting lost in very familiar places is particularly common,” she said.
Cooking or managing finances can become more difficult for someone with dementia. Dr Punam said: “Trouble completing familiar, everyday tasks. So, for example, cooking or managing your finances.”
She explained that “poor judgement” can result in “uncharacteristic” decisions, like “giving away all your money. Dr Punam said: “Another one is mood or personality changes.
“If you start to notice things like anxiety, and onset set sadness, depression, irritability, anger, that doesn’t quite fit, you know it’s important to consider that.” She added that the sooner you speak to a doctor about these symptoms, the better.
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Further to this, she clarified the difference between dementia memory loss and normal age-related forgetfulness. One viewer wrote into the show to ask: “As I’m getting older, I’m becoming more forgetful and worried that it might be the first stages of dementia. Should I be worried?”
Dr Punam reassured that “everyone forgets things from time to time”. She said: “You know, you might have lost your keys or forgotten the name of somebody that you’ve just met.”
According to Dr Punam, one way to know is the impact it has on your day-to-day life. She said: “With typical age-related memory changes you will find where your keys were, you will maybe recall that name that you forgot earlier on. But if symptoms start to become more noticeable and start to impact your everyday life, that’s when we have to consider it being something more serious.”