Taking Longer To Complete Basic Tasks
As most people get older, they tend to slow down a little bit, both physically and mentally. However, if you’re losing the ability to follow plans and having trouble concentrating, meaning things take considerably longer than they used to, that could be an indication an Alzheimer’s diagnosis isn’t far off.
What Is The Treatment For Early
Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for AD, including early-onset Alzheimers. However, the right healthcare plan can help individuals retain mental function, level any mood changes, assist in Alzheimers communication, and slow down the progression of cognitive decline. This might include medication, exercise, and activities that engage the brain.
Early Signs Of Dementia In Men
Dementia is a collection of symptoms, and there are many overlapping features between the different types. Other diseases and disorders can contribute to dementia, which may affect thought processes, communication ability, focus, and memory capacity of those affected. It is important to not assume your loved one has dementia just because they are facing memory problems. The diagnosis can be complicated and requires the assessment of a doctor or medical professional. The following are some of the more common signs of early dementia in men:
Recent memory loss: Forgetting recent conversations or events is often the first sign. Memories are often not affected and may throw off family members, making them think that memory is okay. Often those affected by dementia will not be able to remember what they eat for breakfast.
Difficulty performing familiar tasks: A very reliable warning sign, according to many medical experts. Dementia patients often lose the ability to cook food they once did flawlessly or get lost on their way home in a neighborhood theyve lived in their whole lives.
Language problems: Struggling to communicate thoughts is often an early sign of dementia. They have difficulty explaining things or have trouble finding the right words to express themselves. They may also substitute the wrong word either knowingly or not.
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Warning Signs Of Alzheimer’s
Memory often changes as people grow older. Some people notice changes in themselves before anyone else does. For other people, friends and family are the first to see changes in memory, behavior, or abilities. Memory loss that disrupts daily life is not a typical part of aging. People with one or more of these 10 warning signs should see a doctor to find the cause. Early diagnosis gives them a chance to seek treatment and plan for the future.
1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life: forgetting events, repeating yourself or relying on more aids to help you remember .
2.Challenges in planning or solving problems: having trouble paying bills or cooking recipes you have used for years.
3.Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure: having problems with cooking, driving places, using a cell phone, or shopping.
4.Confusion with time or place: having trouble understanding an event that is happening later, or losing track of dates.
5.Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relations: having more difficulty with balance or judging distance, tripping over things at home, or spilling or dropping things more often.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Alzheimers Association have created the Healthy Brain Initiatives State and Local Public Health Partnerships to Address Dementia: The 2018-2023 Road Map.
8. being a victim of a scam, not managing money well, paying less attention to hygiene, or having trouble taking care of a pet.
What Happens In The Early Stage Of Dementia
Dementia affects everyone differently and early symptoms are often relatively mild and not always easy to notice.
Many people at the early stage of dementia stay largely independent and only need a bit of assistance with daily living. It is important to focus on what the person can do and not to take over and do things for them. Instead, try doing things with them, for example helping the person develop a routine, reminder lists and prompts, and use technology.
For more information for people living with dementia, see the ‘Keeping active and involved‘ page.
The early stage of dementia is when many people choose to make plans for the future, while they still have the ability to do so. This includes making a Lasting power of attorney , and advance decisions and advance statements to ensure their wishes and preferences are made clear.
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Common Early Symptoms Of Dementia
Different types of dementia can affect people differently, and everyone will experience symptoms in their own way.
However, there are some common early symptoms that may appear some time before a diagnosis of dementia. These include:
- difficulty concentrating
- finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks, such as getting confused over the correct change when shopping
- struggling to follow a conversation or find the right word
- being confused about time and place
These symptoms are often mild and may get worse only very gradually. It’s often termed “mild cognitive impairment” as the symptoms are not severe enough to be diagnosed as dementia.
You might not notice these symptoms if you have them, and family and friends may not notice or take them seriously for some time. In some people, these symptoms will remain the same and not worsen. But some people with MCI will go on to develop dementia.
Dementia is not a natural part of ageing. This is why it’s important to talk to a GP sooner rather than later if you’re worried about memory problems or other symptoms.
Differences In Signs Of Dementia In Men And Women
While it is true that the majority of dementia symptoms and signs are seen in both sexes, according to research, some differences can be appreciated between the two. They involve the rate and degree to which certain symptoms develop. The following are such symptoms:
Verbal skills: Men were seen to retain verbal fluency longer than women. This is the ability to correctly perform naming tasks, and the ability to successfully perform delayed recall of words.
Subjective memory complaints: Women were seen to experience memory impairment earlier in the course of dementia than men.
Depressive symptoms: Men with depressive symptoms were found to have a significantly higher risk of developing dementia, particularly Alzheimers disease, compared to women with depressive symptoms.
Rate of symptom progression: A study found that once the initial symptoms of dementia appear in men and women, they tend to progress at a faster rate in women than men. The reasoning for this correlation is not well understood but is suspected to be genetic or environmental in origin.
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Dementia & Alzheimer’s Infographic
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< div style=”clear: both “> < a href=”https://keystone.health/early-warning-signs-dementia-alzheimers”> < img src=”https://keystone.health/images/resources/keystone-dementia-infographic.png” alt=”Dementia and Alzheimer’s Infographic” /> < /a> < br /> < br /> < a href=”https://keystone.health/early-warning-signs-dementia-alzheimers”> Early Warning Signs of Dementia & Alzheimer’s< /a> created by < a href=”https://keystone.health/”> Keystone Health< /a> < /div>
Frequently Misplacing Items And Not Being Able To Retrace Steps
Most people will lose items at some time, but they are usually able to locate them again by searching in logical locations and retracing their steps.
However, someone with Alzheimers disease may forget where they placed an item, especially if they put it in an unusual place. They may also be unable to retrace their steps to find the missing item. This can be distressing and cause the person to believe that someone is stealing from them.
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Early Signs And Symptoms Of Dementia In Men
Dementia is a term used to describe significant cognitive impairment. These impairments are often seen in two or more critical brain functions such as memory, language, judgment, and reasoning. Deficiencies in these aspects of cognitive ability can significantly affect a persons daily functioning, making them require constant aid.
The most common form of dementia is Alzheimers disease, but there exist multiple forms of dementia that exhibit a varying degree of symptoms and presentations to help differentiate them from each other. Some of these other forms of dementia include vascular dementia, which may be the result of stroke and vasculitis, and frontal lobe dementia, which is relatively rare and thought to be inherited.
Early Warning Signs Of Alzheimers Disease
Each person is unique and may experience symptoms differently, but common warning signs and symptoms of Alzheimers disease can include:
1. Memory loss that affects daily life
Changes in short-term memory that disrupt routine activities or job skills forgetting important dates or events repeatedly asking the same questions relying on memory aids or other people to remember things.
2. Difficulty completing familiar tasks
Having problems with routine tasks at home, work or during recreational activities examples could include difficulty with cooking, driving, using a cell phone or shopping.
3. Challenges with problem-solving or planning
Having trouble working through processes they have done consistently, for a long time examples could include paying bills or cooking recipes they have used for years.
4. New problems with vocabulary when speaking or writing
Having trouble following or joining a conversation, or struggling to find the right word when trying to name a familiar object.
5. Confusion or disorientation to time and place
Losing track of dates, seasons and the passage of time forgetting where they are located at a given time, or how they got there.
6. Withdrawal from normal activities
Not wanting to participate in normal work, family or social activities examples could include avoiding going to church, not being able to follow football games, movies or keep up with what is happening.
7. Personality or mood changes
9. Diminished or poor judgment
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Needing Constant Memory Aids
When your memory is in good working order, you can recall most things without always having to write them down or be reminded. However, those in the throes of early Alzheimer’s become more dependent on memory aids, like reminder notes, and often need their friends and family members to help them out. If you can’t so much as remember to pick your friend up at the airport without an alert on your phone telling you to do so, it might be time to see the doctor.
Difficulty Determining Time Or Place
Losing track of dates and misunderstanding the passage of time as it occurs are also two common symptoms. Planning for future events can become difficult because they arent immediately occurring.
As symptoms progress, people with AD can become increasingly forgetful about where they are, how they got there, or why theyre there.
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Warning Signs Of Dementia
Here are some symptoms to watch for:
1. Difficulty with everyday tasks. Everyone makes mistakes, but people with dementia may find it increasingly difficult to do things like keep track of monthly bills or follow a recipe while cooking, the Alzheimers Association says. They may also find it hard to concentrate on tasks, take much longer to do them or have trouble finishing them.
2. Repetition. Asking a question over and over or telling the same story about a recent event multiple times are common indicators of mild or moderate Alzheimer’s, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
3. Communication problems. Observe if a loved one has trouble joining in conversations or following along with them, stops abruptly in the middle of a thought or struggles to think of words or the name of objects.
4. Getting lost. People with dementia may have difficulty with visual and spatial abilities. That can manifest itself in problems like getting lost while driving, according to the Mayo Clinic.
5. Personality changes. A loved one who begins acting unusually anxious, confused, fearful or suspicious, or who becomes upset easily and seems depressed is cause for concern.
7. Misplacing things. Someone with dementia may put things in unusual places and may have difficulty retracing their steps to find misplaced items, the Alzheimers Association notes.
10. Forgetting old memories. Memory loss that becomes more persistent is often one of the first signs of dementia.
Challenges With Direction And Time
For people living with Alzheimers disease, details associated with time and space are frequently forgotten. They often lose track of dates, seasons and the passage of time. It also becomes increasingly hard to get a sense of direction.
A person with Alzheimers may get lost going home or not understand where they are, even when theyre in their own home. Or they may keep putting on a heavy winter coat although its a hot summer day.
In later stages, wandering becomes an issue for some Alzheimers patients. This is particularly dangerous if a patient wanders away from home unobserved or in the middle of the night and cant make their way back.
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Mood Or Personality Changes
Someone with Alzheimers disease may start to experience a change in mood . They can feel irritable, confused, anxious, or depressed. They may also lose interest in things they used to enjoy.
They could become frustrated with their symptoms or feel unable to understand the changes taking place. This may present as aggression or irritability toward others.
This Is What Early Onset Menopause Looks Like
The symptoms were intense and unexpected. There was the time I was attending a conference and suddenly became so hot I had to immediately find the nearest bathroom so I could run cold water over my wrists and dry off my sweaty neck and breastbone. And the day I was having lunch with one of my professors and started burning up so much I couldnt concentrate. My face felt crazy flushed, and I wanted to put my hands to my cheeks as if to stabilize myself.
If I had been, say, 48rather than 28I might have recognized these episodes for what they were: hot flashes. But I was way too young to be going through menopause. Wasnt I?
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Trouble Keeping Track Of And Paying Bills
Every month, you know exactly which bills are due and whenor at least, you used to know. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s, working with numbers becomes difficult, making it hard to ensure payments are going out on time. If you suddenly struggle to remember to pay the same bills you’ve been paying for years, talk to your doctor about the possibility of early onset dementia.
The Benefits Of An Early Alzheimers Diagnosis
People on the onset of Alzheimers may experience just one early warning sign or several and signs will show in varying degrees.
If youre concerned that a loved ones memory loss may be serious, consult with a doctor.
While Alzheimers currently has no cure, an early diagnosis means early treatment. That increases a persons chances of maintaining independence for as long as possible and having a voice in planning for their future.
Did any early signs of Alzheimers lead to a diagnosis for you or a loved one? Share your story with us in the comments below.
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Struggling To Adapt To Change
For someone in the early stages of dementia, the experience can cause fear. Suddenly, they cant remember people they know or follow what others are saying. They cant remember why they went to the store, and they get lost on the way home.
Because of this, they might crave routine and be afraid to try new experiences. Difficulty adapting to change is also a typical symptom of early dementia.
Not Being Able To Follow Recipes
Something as minor as whipping up a home-cooked meal can be a struggle for those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. If someone loses their ability to follow a recipeespecially one they’ve made a thousand timesthat might be an indication of the cognitive changes that commonly occur in the early stages of the disease.
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Problems With Vision And Spatial Awareness
Alzheimers disease can sometimes cause , making it difficult for people to judge distances between objects. The person may find it hard to distinguish contrast and colors or judge speed or distance.
These vision problems combined can affect the persons ability to drive.
Typical aging also affects eyesight, so it is essential to have regular checkups with an eye doctor.
Memory Loss That Impedes Daily Activities
The most noticeable symptom of Alzheimers disease is often memory loss . A person may start forgetting messages or recent events in a way that is unusual for them. They may repeat questions, having forgotten either the answer or the fact that they already asked.
It is not uncommon for people to forget things as they get older, but with early onset Alzheimers disease, this happens earlier in life, occurs more often, and seems out of character.
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Problems Writing Or Speaking
The person may also have difficulty with words and communication. They could find it hard to follow or contribute to a conversation, or they may repeat themselves. The person may also have difficulty writing down their thoughts.
They could stop in the middle of a conversation, unable to figure out what to say next. They may also struggle to find the right word, or label things incorrectly.
It is not uncommon for people to occasionally struggle to find the right word. Typically, they eventually remember it and do not experience the problem frequently.
What Causes Alzheimers
Unfortunately, we do not have a complete understanding of the underlying causes of Alzheimers, especially late-onset Alzheimers. There may be a genetic component. In other words, Alzheimers sometimes appears to run in families. However, in most cases, doctors believe Alzheimers is the result of lifestyle and environmental factors.
There are several known risk factors for Alzheimers. The most significant risk factor is age. Alzheimers onset becomes more likely as a person grows older, with the greatest risk in those 85 years and older. However, Alzheimers is not inevitable. There are plenty of seniors of very advanced age living with no Alzheimers symptoms whatsoever.
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