Spot The Signs (Because None Of Us Are Immune)

Dementia affects increasingly many people, and unlike a lot of diseases, it disproportionately affects people in wealthy industrialized nations.

There are two main reasons for this:

• Longevity (in poorer countries, more people die of other things sooner; can’t get age-related cognitive decline if you don’t age)
• Lifestyle (in the age of convenience, it has never been easier to live an unhealthy lifestyle)

The former is obviously no bad thing for those of us lucky enough to be in wealthier countries (though even in such places, good healthcare access is of course sadly not a given for all).

The latter, however, is less systemic and more epidemic. But it does cut both ways:

• An unhealthy lifestyle is much easier here, yes
• A healthier lifestyle is much easier here, too!

This then comes down to two factors in turn:

• Information: knowing about dementia, what things lead to it, what to look out for, what to do
• Motivation: priorities, and how much attention we choose to give this matter

So, let’s get some information, and then give it our attention!

More than just memory

It’s easy to focus on memory loss, but the four key disabilities directly caused by dementia (each person may not get all four), can be remembered by the mnemonic: “AAAA!”

No, somebody didn’t just murder your writer. It’s:

• Amnesia: memory loss, in one or more of its many forms
  • e.g. short term memory loss, and/or inability to make new memories
• Aphasia: loss of ability to express oneself, and/or understand what is expressed
  • e.g. “More people have been to Berlin than I have”
  • Or even less communication-friendly, Broca’s (Expressive) Aphasia and Wernicke’s (Receptive) Aphasia
• Apraxia: loss of ability to do things, through no obvious physical disability
  • e.g. staring at the bathroom mirror wondering how to brush one’s teeth
• Agnosia: loss of ability to recognize things
  • e.g. prosopagnosia, also called face-blindness.

If any of those seem worryingly familiar, be aware that while yes, it could be a red flag, what’s most important is patterns of these things.

Another difference between having a momentary brainlapse and having dementia might be, for example, the difference between forgetting your keys, and forgetting what keys do or how to use one.

That said, some are neurological deficits that may show up quite unrelated to dementia, including most of those given as examples above. So if you have just one, then that’s probably worthy of note, but probably not dementia.

Writer’s anecdote: I have had prosopagnosia all my life. To give an example of what that is like and how it’s rather more than just “bad with faces”…

Recently I saw my neighbor, and I could tell something was wrong with her face, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Then some moments later, I realized I had mistaken her hat for her face. It was a large beanie with a panda design on it, and that was facelike enough for me to find myself looking at the wrong face.

Subjective memory matters as much as objective

Objective memory tests are great indicators of potential cognitive decline (or improvement!), but even a subjective idea of having memory problems, that one’s memory is “not as good as it used to be”, can be an important indicator too:

Subjective memory may be marker for cognitive decline

And more recently:

If your memory feels like it’s not what it once was, it could point to a future dementia risk

If you’d like an objective test of memory and other cognitive impairments, here’s the industry’s gold standard test (it’s free):

SAGE: A Test to Detect Signs of Alzheimer’s and Dementia

(The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE) is designed to detect early signs of cognitive, memory or thinking impairments)

There are things that can look like dementia that aren’t

A person with dementia may be unable to recognize their partner, but hey, this writer knows that feeling very well too. So what sets things apart?

More than we have room for today, but here’s a good overview:

What are the early signs of dementia, and how does it differ from normal aging?

Want to read more?

You might like our previous article more specifically about reducing Alzheimer’s risk:

Reducing Alzheimer’s Risk Early!

Take care!