AstridGuide – Dementia & Alzheimer Guide

Dementia & Alzheimer’s

Dementia is a mental disorder that commonly affects older people between the ages of 65 and 85 years. The chances of developing Dementia gets higher as one grows older. Since Dementia is an impairment affecting the brain, the most common symptom associated with Dementia is memory loss.

However, it doesn’t mean that when an old person has memory lapses, the person already has Dementia. There are other areas that are also affected by Dementia, such as speech, personality and confidence levels of a person. Below are more detailed information on the most common symptoms of Dementia.

1. Memory Loss

This is one of the most common symptom of Dementia. A person might forget people’s names, phone numbers, past events, places visited, and even their own name.

2. Language problems

A person suffering from Dementia might face language problems. It might happen many times that the Dementia patient may not be able to find the right words to express their thoughts and feelings normally.

3. Difficulty in performing tasks

There might be difficulty in performing common tasks like taking a bath, picking up things, holding a cup, etc.

4. Forgetting the date, time and place

People suffering from Dementia often seem to forget the day of the week or time of the day. In many cases they may also forget where they are going or where they had gone earlier.

5. The numbers game

People also suffer the inability to do calculations, settling bank accounts and writing checks.

6. Poor judgment

The patient might end up doing odd things like wearing other people’s clothes or maybe wearing their shirt inside out.

7. Misplacing things

A Dementia patient might forget where they have kept their car keys or may put things in the wrong place like cutlery in cupboards and not in draws for example.

8. Mood swings

A Dementia patient commonly suffers from sudden changes in mood. The patient may have mood swings for no reason at all.

9. Loss of initiative

A person with Dementia may not like getting involved in business matters and other normal day to day activities. They may gradually lose interest in doing even just simple things.

10. Personality changes

There might be adverse changes in the personality of a Dementia patient. They might get totally confused sometimes and also become fearful of certain things that are not feared before.

A person suffering from Dementia may exhibit one or more of these symptoms. As soon as any of these symptoms are realized and a person is diagnosed with Dementia, immediate treatment should be given.