How To Recognize That An Elder Has Dementia

Dementia is turning into a common affliction today among elders; it is no disease, but a collection of symptoms of various diseases that includes impairment in memory, thinking and communicating. One of the leading causes of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia could be caused by diseases like Huntington’s or Lewy body dementia or brain damage incurred by injury or stroke.

Ways to recognize your loved elder has dementia:

1) It is best understood that it is wrong to categorize an elder as having dementia just because he/she has some memory problem; in addition to memory loss the elder he should have impairment of language, focus, communication or reasoning.

2) The next sign of dementia is the difficulty in finding the right words to communicate; the elder may find it difficult to communicate their thoughts, with conversation with them being not only difficult but longer than usual to conclude.   

3) Trouble with short term memory could be one of the early signs of dementia; the elder may remember incidents that took place in the distant past, but may forget where he/she left something, what they are supposed to do in the room one entered and what work is to be done immediately.

4) Changes in mood another important sign; you may notice your loved elder experience depression. You may notice a shift of personality with a shy person being outgoing or vice versa as the elder’s judgment is often affected.

5) Another sign is repetition that is caused by memory loss and general behavioral changes; your may find your loved elder repeat daily tasks like shaving and collecting things obsessively or repeat the same question that you just answered in a conversation.

6) Listlessness and apathy is a common early sign of dementia, with the elder losing interest in activities and hobbies. They may seem emotionally flat and may lose interest in spending time with friends and family.

7) Difficulty in following storylines of conversation or story lines is a classic early warning sign of dementia; just like they find it difficult to find the right words, they may forget the meaning of the words they just heard.

8) One of the early signs of dementia is the subtle shift in the ability to do normal complex tasks like balancing the checkbook or playing a game that has a lot of rules. Your loved elder may also experience difficulty in learning to do new things and following new routines.    

9) Confusion arising out of lapses in memory, thinking and judgment is one of the early signs of dementia; he/she may find it difficult remembering faces, right words, interacting and remembering people.

10) Your loved elder may suffer from a failing sense of direction and spatial orientation; he/she may fail to recognize once-familiar landmarks and regularly used directions and find it difficult to follow series of directions and step by step instructions.

Finally, all these signs add up to the loved elder not wanting to try out new things, making it difficult for them to adapt to changes.