Dementia is commonly considered a memory problem, like when an elderly person asks the identical questions or misplaces things. In reality, individuals with dementia is not going to only experience issues in other areas of cognition like learning, pondering, comprehension and judgement, but they might also experience changes in behaviour.
It’s essential to know what dementia is and the way it manifests. I didn’t imagine my grandmother’s strange behaviours were an early warning sign of a much more serious condition.
She would change into easily agitated if she wasn’t successful at completing tasks equivalent to cooking or baking. She would claim to see a lady across the house though no woman was really there. She also became distrustful of others and hid things in odd places.
These behaviours endured for a while before she eventually received a dementia diagnosis.
Cognitive and behavioural impairment
When cognitive and behavioural changes interfere with a person’s functional independence, that person is taken into account to have dementia. However, when cognitive and behavioural changes don’t interfere with a person’s independence, yet still negatively affect relationships and workplace performance, they’re known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild behavioural impairment (MBI)respectively.
MCI and MBI can occur togetherbut in one-third of people that develop Alzheimer’s dementia, the behavioural symptoms come before cognitive decline.
Spotting these behavioural changes, which emerge in later life (ages 50 and over) and represent a persistent change from longstanding patterns, will be helpful for implementing preventive treatments before more severe symptoms arise. As a medical science PhD candidate, my research focuses on problem behaviours that arise later in life and indicate increased risk for dementia.
Five behavioural signs to search for
(Daniella Vellone)
There are five primary behaviours we will search for in family and friends who’re over the age of fifty that might warrant further attention.
1. Apathy
Apathy is a decline in interest, motivation and drive.
An apathetic person might lose interest in friends, family or activities. They may lack curiosity in topics that normally would have interested them, lose the motivation to act on their obligations or change into less spontaneous and lively. They might also appear to lack emotions in comparison with their usual selves and look like they not care about anything.
2. Affective dysregulation
Affective dysregulation includes mood or anxiety symptoms. Someone who shows affective dysregulation may develop sadness or mood instability or change into more anxious or anxious about routine things equivalent to events or visits.
3. Lack of impulse control
Impulse dyscontrol is the shortcoming to delay gratification and control behaviour or impulses.
Someone who has impulse dyscontrol may change into agitated, aggressive, irritable, temperamental, argumentative or easily frustrated. They may change into more stubborn or rigid such that they’re unwilling to see other views and are insistent on having their way. Sometimes they could develop sexually disinhibited or intrusive behaviours, exhibit repetitive behaviours or compulsions, start gambling or shoplifting, or experience difficulties regulating their consumption of gear like tobacco or alcohol.
4. Social inappropriateness
Social inappropriateness includes difficulties adhering to societal norms in interactions with others.
Someone who’s socially inappropriate may lose the social judgement they previously had about what to say or behave. They may change into less concerned about how their words or actions affect others, discuss private matters openly, consult with strangers as if familiar, say rude things or lack empathy in interactions with others.
5. Abnormal perceptions or thoughts
Abnormal perception or thought content refers to strongly held beliefs and sensory experiences.
Someone with abnormal perceptions or thoughts may change into suspicious of other people’s intentions or think that others are planning to harm them or steal their belongings. They might also describe hearing voices or consult with imaginary people and/or act like they’re seeing things that aren’t there.
Before considering any of those behaviours as an indication of a more major problem, it’s essential to rule out other potential causes of behavioural change equivalent to drugs or medications, other medical conditions or infections, interpersonal conflict or stress, or a reoccurrence of psychiatric symptoms related to a previous psychiatric diagnosis. If unsure, it could be time for a physician’s visit.
The impact of dementia
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Many of us know someone who has either experienced dementia or cared for somebody with dementia. This isn’t surprising, on condition that dementia is predicted to affect a million Canadians by 2030.
While people between the ages of 20 and 40 might imagine that they’ve many years before dementia affects them, it’s essential to comprehend that dementia isn’t a person journey. In 2020, care partners — including relations, friends or neighbours — spent 26 hours per week assisting older Canadians living with dementia. This is similar to 235,000 full-time jobs or $7.3 billion annually.
These numbers are expected to triple by 2050, so it’s essential to look for methods to offset these predicted trajectories by stopping or delaying the progression of dementia.
Identifying those in danger
While there’s currently no cure for dementia, there was progress towards developing effective treatmentswhich may go higher earlier within the disease course.
More research is required to know dementia symptoms over time; for instance, the web CAN-PROTECT study assesses many contributors to brain aging.
Identifying those in danger for dementia by recognizing later-life changes in cognition, function in addition to behaviour is a step towards not only stopping consequences of those changes, but in addition potentially stopping the disease or its progression.