Common Signs Of Dementia

Repetitiveness And Struggle To Follow Conversations

Memory loss added with behavioral changes often leads people with dementia to repeat a specific task or a conversation. It can be explaining or questioning the same thing repeatedly or doing a chores, such as eating lunch, collecting items, etc., multiple times in a day. 

Similarly, you may have explained something several times to someone with dementia. Still, due to memory loss, they forget or mix the meanings of words and sentences. Leading to a hard time following what the other person is trying to convey. 

Inability To Adapt To Change

While it may seem that a person with dementia does not know what is happening with or around them, it is not the case. More often than not, the feeling of knowing someone but not recognizing them. Not being able to take part or understand a conversation, etc., creates a deep lingering fear in them. 

The same fear, uncertainty, and anxiety push them to create a systematic and known environment that is safer, leading to a constant need for a set routine. Therefore, any new routine or experience becomes a big no-no. 

Lost Sense Of Direction 

People living with dementia have a poor sense of direction as well as spatial orientation. It could be as severe for a person as to forget a place that they’ve spent most of their lives at, including directions and landmarks. 

Causes 

Loss or damage to the nerve cells, including their connection to the brain, can cause dementia. However, dementia is not the same for everyone as its effect on people, and the visible symptoms vary as per the damaged area of the brain.

So how do people group dementia? It is done by finding what’s familiar, like the part of the brain affected, proteins deposited in the brain, etc. 

But note that it does not mean that any medical condition, reaction to a medication, or deficiencies with dementia-like symptoms is dementia. Instead, in most cases like these, the condition improves with treatment. 

Some major types of dementia that are not reversible include –

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Lewy body dementia
• Mixed dementia
• Frontotemporal dementia
• Vascular dementia

Prevention 

While dementia as a part of aging or family history cannot be changed, a person definitely can control certain factors associated with dementia to reduce the risk. These include –

• Being physically active with at least 150 minutes of weekly exercise. 
• A good diet rich in fruits, omega-3 fatty acids, vegetables, whole grains, etc. 
• I am avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, considering how it is linked with signs of brain damage. 
• Hypertension, high cholesterol levels, obesity, diabetes, smoking, depression, exposure to extreme air pollution, head trauma, and sleep disturbances are linked to a higher risk of developing dementia. And, so avoiding these make for an excellent way to keep healthy.
• I am avoiding nutritional deficiencies, especially vitamin D, folate, and vitamin B-6.
• Make sure to get good sleep while actively seeking treatment for any hearing problems. 
• Keep your mind active through puzzles, games, books, etc.

CONCLUSION 

It is not easy living with dementia, certainly not so easy to treat it either. And therefore, it grows imperative to notice early medical signs of dementia to avoid worsening it. 

Regular visits to the doctor for any similar medical condition. Discussing the signs and effects is an excellent way to acknowledge and treat dementia early efficiently. Happy Scrolling!