Recognizing the Early Warning Signs of Dementia

According to a 2023 study published by the World Health Organization (WHO), there are roughly 55 million people around the world struggling with dementia.

To make matters even more troubling, experts expect that number to double every 20 years, meaning that more than 150 people will be diagnosed with dementia by the year 2050. Every year, there are roughly 10 million new dementia diagnoses.

Unfortunately, this means that there are likely millions more struggling with dementia who have not received a diagnosis. Many people assume that their dementia symptoms are simply the byproduct of getting older or dealing with too much stress.

With this in mind, it’s important to recognize the warning signs of dementia.

Whether you’re an older adult who is starting to deal with some memory issues or other possible issues caused by dementia or you have a loved one, recognizing the symptoms can help you act quickly to get treatment and slow the progression of the disease.

What is Dementia?

Before we take a deeper dive into some dementia warning signs, it’s a good idea to know what dementia is. Dementia itself is not a disease.

Instead, it is a term that refers to a number of neurological diseases that affect an individual’s ability to remember, perform daily tasks, and think through difficult problems.

There are several causes of dementia, ranging from Alzheimer's Disease to brain injuries. At its core, dementia refers to a failure of neurons to connect or work properly.

Sometimes, patients who have had strokes and continue to deal with poor blood flow to the brain may suffer from something called vascular dementia. Meanwhile, abnormal protein structures in the brain cause something called Lewy Body Disease, which presents with dementia.

Is There a Cure For Dementia?

Not only are there multiple causes of dementia, there is no cure. There are medications that can help manage the symptoms of dementia and there are treatments that work by slowing its progression, but it’s not possible to cure dementia.

This is largely because there are so many different causes, most of which cannot be treated with medication or therapy.

With this in mind, it’s incredibly important to respond quickly when you notice the warning signs of dementia.

Warning Signs of Dementia

Getting professional help can aid in slowing the disease that’s causing dementia and allow the patient to maximize their quality of life going forward. With this in mind, let’s look into some dementia warning signs.

Memory Loss

The most prevalent dementia symptom is memory loss. It’s normal to forget things sometimes, especially as we age.

There are countless studies out there that focus on the prevalence of memory loss, especially among older adults.

For instance, forgetting an upcoming appointment is normal. However, when these instances of forgetfulness become more common, it’s a warning sign that something is wrong.

Additionally, people with dementia often struggle to retain new information that they just learned. This is why Alzheimer's patients, especially those who are in the advanced stages of the disease, are often confused and think that they’re back in their childhood home.

They may call out for parents who have been deceased for years. In fact, they may be able to recall memories from the distant past with great clarity. However, they may forget that their grandchild visited with them earlier in the day.

Difficulty with Tasks

One of the early warning signs of dementia is difficulty with performing daily tasks. This is because the patient genuinely forgets what they’re doing. It’s especially common in the kitchen when a dementia patient struggles with cooking.

Since most recipes require multiple ingredients to be put together in a certain order, the effects of dementia make it difficult for the individual to put together the dish that they’re cooking.

Another common difficulty for people with dementia involves playing games.

For instance, an elderly dementia patient may have spent years playing gin rummy with friends or relatives, but the disease eventually alters their brain’s structure, making it difficult for them to remember the rules of the game.

In the later stages of dementia, the patient may struggle to maintain proper hygiene, as they’re likely to forget to shower, brush their teeth, or perform other seemingly mundane tasks.

Linguistic Changes

People with dementia often forget words, especially when they’re in a crowd of people who are having a conversation.

One of the earliest warning signs of dementia may be found when having one-on-one conversations with the patient, as it’s normal for them to struggle to retrieve the word that they’re looking for from the linguistic center of the brain.

Medically, forgetting words is referred to as “aphasia,” and in dementia patients, it typically starts slowly.

As the disease progresses, you may notice more marked differences in the patient’s linguistic patterns. It’s incredibly common for dementia patients who are dealing with the more advanced stages of their disease to become verbally aggressive.

This includes the use of profanity from patients who have not typically used that type of language in the past.

If you suspect that a loved one is dealing with dementia, start paying careful attention to their speech patterns, as it is usually a good indicator that something is changing neurologically.

Disorientation

It’s completely normal to occasionally walk into the kitchen and forget what you were going to do. However, dementia patients often find themselves lost, even when they’re in a familiar place.

Tragically, this is why so many dementia patients, specifically those who are in the advanced stages of the disease, require around-the-clock care, as it’s normal for them to walk out of their homes and become lost, even if they never leave the street that they’ve lived on for years.

This becomes especially dangerous if the disease goes undiagnosed for too long, as people who have dementia have been known to drive for hours without knowing where they’re going or how they got there.

To make matters worse, they likely won’t know how to get back home. This is why many healthcare professionals urge dementia patients to stop driving.

Poor Judgment

Everyone makes bad decisions from time to time, and an isolated incident of poor judgment is not necessarily cause for alarm.

However, if it looks like someone is struggling to make sound decisions, especially decisions that can jeopardize their health, there may be something neurologically wrong.

For instance, dementia patients may go outside to do some gardening, failing to consider the temperature. If they don’t recognize the need to regulate their body temperature or hydrate, they can experience a health emergency while doing something that they’ve done for years.

Personality Changes

Finally, dementia patients may exhibit stark changes in their personality and overall demeanor. A large portion of this symptom is related to the confusion that they feel.

In the early stages of the disease, people often recognize that something is wrong. They recognize that they’re struggling to find the right words to convey what they want to say.

They may realize that their food doesn’t taste as good as it used to because they’ve forgotten some ingredients. Confusion often manifests as anger.

It's also normal for dementia patients to become more withdrawn, often because they want to hide their disease. Over time, it’s normal for dementia patients to become combative, even resulting in physicality.

Know the Signs of Dementia

If you suspect that someone in your life is dealing with the early stages of dementia, it’s important to handle the conversation carefully.

Not only are they going through neurological changes that they cannot explain, but they likely know that something is wrong and may fear the worst.

Be reassuring when having a conversation and help them get the help they need.