Dementia is a general definition for memory disorders. They occur due to some physical changes in the brain. The most common type is Alzheimer's disease, but there are many more types.
Alzheimer's Disease is the most common type of dementia. It begins with difficulties in memory, thinking, and reasoning. Here are 10 symptoms that should attract your attention:
Memory disorders that affect daily life, such as forgetting something newly learned, may be an early symptom. These include forgetting important dates or events, constantly asking the same questions, taking notes for things that could be done before, or constantly asking for help from family members. Even if he forgets the dates, he remembers them later.
Difficulties in solving problems or making plans and difficulties with numbers begin. Sometimes, not being able to keep track of monthly bills or cooking the same meals you used to do can be a symptom. It may also be a symptom that tasks that were previously done in a short time now take longer.
However, with age-related changes, slight difficulties may arise in the list of tasks to be done, but the person notices and corrects them.
Not being able to do what you used to do at home, at work or on holiday, and not being able to do your daily tasks should also attract attention. Symptoms include not being able to remember a route you have always taken before, not being able to calculate a money you made before at work, or difficulty remembering the rules of the football match you watched.
However, age-related forgetfulness may include turning on the oven occasionally and not being able to remember the rules of the football match you watched. These are things like asking for help setting things up or using the TV remote.
Confusing time or place: Alzheimer's patients may confuse days, months, seasons and dates. Sometimes, they may get angry because they wonder why what should happen does not happen immediately, this is related to the time confusion in the mind. They may not remember where they are or how they got there.
In age-related forgetfulness, they confuse what day of the week it is and then remember.
They may also have difficulty understanding images and spatial differences. It is a finding. Reading, adjusting distance, color or difficulties in perceiving contrast cause difficulties, especially in driving. Age-related visual difficulties are usually due to cataracts.
Not being able to find words while writing or speaking is a problem seen in Alzheimer's patients. They have difficulty following or participating in a conversation. They get stuck in the middle of the conversation, not knowing how to continue. Sometimes they can't remember the word or make up a new word. In age-related forgetfulness, finding the right word occasionally creates difficulty.
Putting things in the wrong place or not being able to find them are also among the symptoms. Alzheimer's patients put their belongings in inappropriate places. They cannot find their belongings, and sometimes they even accuse others of stealing these items, and these accusations increase over time. However, in age-related forgetfulness, even if he cannot find his belongings, he finds them by searching.
Decrease in logical thinking causes Alzheimer's patients to have difficulty in making decisions or make wrong decisions. They are quick to believe phone scammers or door-to-door salespeople. They begin to be careless and careless in their house cleaning or self-care. In age-related forgetfulness, they make wrong decisions every forty years.
They move away from work, hobbies and socializing. They start making excuses not to go shopping or meet their neighbors. The problem that may be related to advanced age may be boredom with family, work or social conversations.
Changes in personality and mood are also warning signs for Alzheimer's Disease. They become confused, suspicious, suspicious of those around them, and anxiety and fear begin to become evident in their movements. They start to feel anxious at home, at work, or when they go out for a visit. When they sleep in a foreign place, they become more confused, agitated, and strange.
Things that can be considered normal due to old age are crankiness when they get out of their routine.
Dementia is less common. Other types seen are vascular dementia (occurs due to malnutrition of the vessels in the brain), Lewy-body dementia (the most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, one of the Lewy bodies in the brain). fronto-temporal dementia (a type of dementia that occurs with shrinkage, especially in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, and communication disorder with others is at the forefront, and occurs at an earlier age than Alzheimer's Disease), Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease (a type of dementia that develops rapidly due to virus infection and causes depression, agitation, difficulties in walking and muscle cramps), dementia due to Parkinson's Disease (a type of dementia accompanied by the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease), normal pressure hydrocephalus. (a type of dementia that occurs with fluid accumulation in the brain and symptoms similar to Parkinson's Disease), Dementia due to Huntington's Disease (This disease is a genetically inherited disease and includes dementia symptoms in addition to its own symptoms), Korsakoff Syndrome (due to B1 deficiency, especially in those who consume alcohol).
Not every forgetfulness is Alzheimer's, but not every forgetfulness is dementia either. Brain MRI, some blood tests, neuropsychological examination and other tests are required to be able to name this exactly.
Dementia patients usually consult physicians late because their relatives cannot confirm it, and possible treatments are started late, and therefore the results are received late.
Consult a neurologist when you notice behavior around you that you are not used to before or events that change or complicate your daily life.
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