An expert has highlighted nine key symptoms that can signal early-onset dementia as he reveals the lack of support for young people who develop the illness.
Professor Nick Fox is considered a leading expert in early-onset dementia and has revealed that there are many symptoms to look out for that could be early warning signs of the syndrome.
In an article for the Telegraph, he explained that early-onset dementia simply means anyone who develops symptoms before the age of 65. However, it can occur in people as young as their 20s and 30s as well, with the youngest person he's ever treated being just 23 years old.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, and the condition damages and destroys healthy cells in the brain over time. There is no cure.
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Professor Fox noted that symptoms of early-onset dementia may vary person to person, both in their frequency and magnitude, and can sometimes be put down to things like burnout or stress by medics.
Personality changes
Professor Fox claimed that a sufferer’s personality may change in slight ways that become noticeable.
They may suddenly start wearing bright clothes, develop very rigid routines or become obsessed with certain foods, TV shows or activities.
He recalled one instance where a husband told him a story of how his wife’s personality changed. At a gathering at home, when people they had not seen for years walked in, she didn’t greet them and simply moved her chair closer to the TV as they were blocking her view.
Loss of self-control
The professor also noted he has seen people who seemingly lose their sense of control when it comes to consuming food or drink.
This loss of control can also apply to how they interact with other people, noting that those suffering may become blunt, or even rude, seemingly unaware of acceptable social norms.
Lack of motivation
Due to the importance of the brain's frontal lobes to a person’s motivation, these becoming damaged over time due to dementia could mean a sufferer does not wish to do anything.
For early-onset Alzheimer’s, a person may lose their get-up-and-go attitude and become apathetic to things.
However, some may be more willing to go out and do something if it is organized by someone else.
Lack of empathy
Professor Fox also warned that one of the symptoms he sees in his work is people losing the ability to read and understand the emotions of others. As well as this, they may struggle to empathise.
Speaking about one case, he revealed that a woman told him she was crying in her kitchen, struggling and stressed about the demands of her job.
Her previously caring partner simply stepped over to her to get to the washing machine, making her understandably devastated at the apparent lack of empathy.
Difficulty calculating risk
Another symptom is that a person may struggle to understand or calculate the risk of their actions.
Someone who was once economically savvy may now be getting into debt, as they have seen an increase in impulsivity and a loss of judgment.
An inability to assess risk can also put themselves or other people in danger, as Professor Fox explained that he became wary of a patient driving their car on the road, fearful that their growing issue of calculating risk was seeping into how they operated their vehicle.
Forgetting how to do familiar tasks
This is one of the most common dementia symptoms, and can also be seen in people suffering from early-onset dementia.
Sufferers can end up losing established skills such as cooking, and can also struggle to learn new tasks.
This issue itself is not simply forgetting, according to the professor, but rather a problem with the brain’s planning and sequencing system.
In this instance, people are forgetting the correct order in which to do things despite having done them plenty of times before.
Language issues
This is another well-known symptom and can vary from person to person. Someone may struggle simply speaking, or their speech overall may become less fluent, and they may stumble or stutter through sentences.
Some people may also make mistakes with syllables or miss words altogether, forget the understanding of familiar words or talk around the missing vocabulary, opting for terms like ‘whatyamacallit’ or ‘thingamajiggy’.
Issues with vision
Dementia that impacts the back of the brain could result in issues with visual or spatial awareness.
This can result in people struggling to do simple tasks like walking up stairs or reaching for a drink.
Professor Fox noted that one patient had once got six different pairs of glasses, each with an updated prescription to help deal with the issue, unaware that his sight difficulties were caused by undiagnosed dementia.
Inability to recognize faces
This symptom is often associated with older people with dementia; however can also occur with early-onset dementia, according to the professor.
For those with early-onset, this can be one of the first symptoms, though it is considered rare.
Topics: Health
Gerrard Kaonga