Early signs of dementia - including one that shows up during sleep
Catching dementia early is vital. An earlier diagnosis can allow families and medical services to take the necessary preventative measures which can slow down some of the condition's worst symptoms and improve the person's quality of life.
While the condition has no cure, it's important to catch it early in order to prevent symptoms getting worse.
The UK’s Alzheimer’s society has said: “With clinical trials now showing positive results, an early and accurate diagnosis will be important to find those that are eligible for disease modifying treatments when they are available.
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“It’s important to also remember there are lots of ways we can support people to live well with dementia, even in the absence of drugs to slow the progression.”
Memory loss, while being a sign of dementia, is not its only symptom. The New York Times reported that there are five symptoms people often suffer from early in the process, which can sometimes be overlooked.
While not all of these symptoms immediately indicate dementia, a combination of the following symptoms that persists over time should be checked with a doctor, reports Surrey Live.
Here is the list of five common dementia symptoms that can be caught in the early stages.
Five symptoms of possible dementia
1. Personality changes
A decline in agreeableness and extroversion was identified as a symptom of dementia by Angelina Sutin, a professor of behavioural sciences at Florida State University.
Social withdrawal or a shrinking social circle were both revealed by Sutin's study as early dementia symptoms. These personality changes can occur before cognitive decline and can be seen in everyday behaviours.
2. Difficulty driving
Years before other symptoms manifest, difficulty driving can be an early indicator of cognitive decline.
Neurology professor Ganesh Babulal of Washington University in St. Louis revealed that finding it hard to drive could be an early symptom of dementia, as the skill combines several cognitive systems.
3. Loss of smell
Your sense of smell can be damaged years or even decades before the appearance of other dementia symptoms.
Loss of smell is one of the first signs of neurodegeneration in diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease.
While hearing or vision loss are risk factors for dementia, but not caused by it, loss of smell is an early manifestation of these diseases.
In Alzheimer’s, smells are detected but confused, while in Parkinson’s and dementia with Lewy bodies they are not perceived, which may be key to catching the condition early.
4. Difficulty sleeping well
While having trouble sleeping is common in old age, drastic changes in this can indicate dementia. Waking up during the night or not being able to stay awake during the day can be early signs of the condition.
Regions of the brain that regulate sleep, such as the brainstem, are among the first to be affected in Alzheimer’s, causing disturbances years before memory problems.
Acting out dreams with movements or screams can occur in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s. This REM sleep behaviour disorder is caused by damage to the brain cells that control sleep paralysis.
Patients often seek help after being alerted by a partner to violent or unusual behaviour in their sleep. This is not just sleepwalking, according to neurologist Ronald Postuma, and these patterns may be early signs of neurodegenerative diseases.
5. Financial problems
Financial problems are very common and may be due to a variety of causes. But when they occur alongside other cognitive or behavioural changes, they may be an early sign of dementia.
A sudden or unusual onset, such as forgetting to pay bills, making impulsive purchases or trusting unreliable people, may indicate disturbances in judgement and brain function.
This is most obvious in frontotemporal dementia, where judgement is impaired early on. According to neurologist Winston Chiong, financial management involves multiple brain regions, making it one of the first areas where cognitive problems are evident.
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