7 unexpected symptoms of dementia you should know about

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Many people fear the elderly dementia, they are just beginning to have memory problems, but this is far from the first sign…

As Professor June Andrews, author of Dementia: The Universal Guide to the Problem, explains, memory lapses is not always the first sign of the disease.

The signs listed below are not necessarily a marker of dementia, but if you find at least one of them in yourself or your loved ones, you should talk to your doctor.

1. DIFFICULTIES WITH FINDING WORDS…

Everyone has a moment when the right word is on their tongue, but you can't pronounce it or even remember it. This in itself is not a problem, unless it starts to happen more often than usual.

2. PROBLEMS WITH PLANNING AND FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS

“Many things we do every day automatically,” says Andrews. “If you can't remember a favorite recipe that you've been cooking for years, or you're confused, unable to plan a sequence of actions, this is a sign of disturbed neural connections in the brain.”

3. MOOD CHANGE…

If your family member has become less sociable, more gloomy or irritable, it could all be related to dementia. “Frontotemporal dementia, which affects the front of the brain, can cause aggression because the frontal lobes of the brain are where our inhibitions lie,” says Professor Andrews. Essentially, you lose your willpower and are unable to control your anger or resentment in any situation.

4. INSOMNIA AND FATIGUE…

As you get older, it’s natural for you to sleep less and wake up at night, but it’s even more noticeable in people with dementia. Melatonin, the sleep hormone, decreases in the body with age. But Alzheimer’s disease reduces its levels even more. This leads to insomnia at night and fatigue during the day. And some types of dementia cause nightmares.

5. DRIVING PROBLEMS…

If you’ve spent your whole life behind the wheel, your actions become automatic. But the development of dementia makes this habitual work dangerous for both you and those around you. Yes, if you’ve been diagnosed with dementia, you shouldn’t get behind the wheel. And one of the symptoms of the disease can be accidents that have become more frequent for you. Even if it’s just a scratch on your bumper on the curb.

6. CHANGE IN EATING HABITS…

The craving for very sweet foods with age is not the norm. This change in taste is a sign of impaired sensory perception. Australian scientists have proven the relationship between frontotemporal dementia and a growing need for sweets.

7. FALLS AND DIFFICULTIES WHEN WALKING

People with vascular dementia often lose their orientation in space and balance. The speed of walking also slows down because of this. The relationship between brain damage and the speed of movement of elderly people, unfortunately, has also recently been proven by scientists.