Spotting early signs of dementia in the elderly
In this busy and fast moving world, how does one ensure optimal care for their elderly loved ones? With so much occupying our time and the lack of proper knowledge, sometimes it can be hard to timely notice the symptoms of various health conditions in the elderly. One such disease is Dementia. Dementia usually occurs in older people. One might even associate the symptoms of dementia as a normal part of ageing due to lack of understanding of this condition. While memory loss and changes in the ability to think can also happen due to ageing, the differentiating factor lies in the severity of the change.
Dementia has a few noticeable symptoms that occur as a result of cognitive impairment and can affect the elderly’ daily routine including their ability to think, remember. With time these symptoms tend to get worse, so it is important to spot these signs early on to enable the elderly to get optimal care before the condition worsens.
Typically there are ten early dementia signs. Diagnosis for dementia usually occurs when two or more of these symptoms start showing up and affecting the elderly’s daily routine.
The early signs of dementia are:
- Loss of memory
An elderly with dementia may find it difficult to remember information such as dates, events or any new information that they have recently learnt. They may rely on family and friends or other memory aids to monitor things. Age-related memory loss is something completely different from the memory loss induced by dementia. The point of difference lies in the severity.
- Difficulty in solving problems
It can be difficult for elderly with dementia to follow a plan, like a recipe during cooking. Navigating daily life activities can also become challenging, for example, adding numbers while calculating bills.
- Misplacement of things
People with dementia may not recall where they leave everyday items such as remote control, documents, cash, or keys. Often, this misplacement can be mistaken as an act of robbery by elderly with dementia. In such cases, keep your calm and help them find the things that they have misplaced.
- Less socialising
Elderly with dementia may be uninterested or dicey about socialising with others, be at home or work. They may withdraw themselves and not speak to others.
- Mood swings and personality changes
The elderly might start experiencing mood swings or changes in personality. They may become irritable, depressed, afraid, or anxious. They can also become agitated or may harm themselves or others in the family.
- Difficulty in performing simple tasks
Early signs of dementia in the elderly include difficulty in performing their everyday tasks. Activities that they could carry out earlier easily can also become extremely challenging for them.
Bathing, cooking, and dressing themselves are few of the simplest tasks that the edlerly would need help with if they start showing dementia symptoms.
- Confusion
Some people start experiencing confusion during early stages of dementia. They can no longer remember faces, find the right words, or normally interact with people.
- Having trouble in speaking and writing
It can be difficult for an elderly with dementia to communicate well. They may forget what you say or what someone else said. Their spellings, punctuations, and grammar can become distorted, and It can become harder to read their handwriting.
- Repetitiveness
Repetition in dementia occurs due to memory loss and changes in general behavioural patterns. The individual may repeat everyday tasks, including shaving, or collecting items obsessively.
They may repeat the same question to you again and again even after you have answered them.
- Fight to adapt to change.
The symptoms can generate fear in the edlerly during the early stages of dementia. After all, suddenly they can’t remember people they know and can’t follow what others say. They might not even remember why they went to a particular shop and may even feel lost on the way home.
