People who age are often forgetful. Usually this is innocent. However, various memory problems can be a first sign of dementia. How can you recognize dementia?
Starting dementia
About memory problems you can think of; The fact that you suddenly lose your pincode when you are at the cash machine; The moment you forgot to close your door; The moment you want to call someone, but you’ve forgotten who you wanted to call; The fact that you walk out on your slippers because you forgot to put on your shoes; The fact that you have left your potatoes on the fire; The moment you wanted to say something to someone, but you no longer recognize them.
There are various things that you can forget. It can be pure coincidence, but it can also be a sign of starting dementia. It is difficult to know when something is forgetfulness, or when something is serious dementia. It is more common that people forget something. This can be due to: stress, too busy, depression or sadness. It does not always have to be dementia right away. Yet it is important to keep an eye on it. If you see more symptoms, you can prevent the aforementioned actions more often. So you often forget your pincode or to recognize someone.
These are signs that may indicate starting dementia. This makes it difficult to recognize it specifically. When is someone really demented? When is it dementia and no other cause? Of course it can also be a Burn-out or something else. If the causes and characteristics are more known, it may be easier to recognize. Usually it are family members or close relatives who recognize dementia at someone. Sometimes it is also the persons themselves who have a suspicion. If you have a suspicion on yourself or someone else you can do a dementia test.
You can do a dementia test on this website using a form with questions for family members and caregivers of suspected dementia patient, to map out any memory problems and cognitive decline in daily functioning. Read more about the test on Dementia test.
Is it possible to test starting dementia?
Diagnosing dementia is very difficult. So the question of whether dementia can be specifically tested and determined is therefore difficult to answer. It is also important to check whether dementia is a separate disease. It is a general name, so dementia in the specific as previously indicated is difficult to test. There are symptoms of dementia.
These symptoms are specific for dementia and can thus be defined as dementia. This makes it easier for them to be linked to a disease. The starting symptoms can be found, with this you can determine the eventual illness.
Symptoms of dementia
It is very difficult to diagnose dementia. This is also because it is associated with many diseases. There are a number of symptoms known that are typical of dementia. You can go to the doctor with this, he or she can investigate further. In addition, you can also do a test yourself, with which you can test whether your memory is still good. However, it is possible to determine something on the basis of known symptoms. If these are more known, it is easier to think about dementia. If these symptoms are not known, this is of course more difficult. Therefore, a number of symptoms are discussed below.
Forgot things
Forgetfulness is a known symptom. Forgetting new information. People often experience important facts or events and do not know them anymore. They no longer know that it is told or happened. For example: someone dear to them who has died, they went to the funeral. The next day the person asks: “How is it with ……? That is precisely the one who died. “This is forgetfulness and this is one of the most characteristic symptoms. Everything takes effort Things do not work well anymore, they are no longer self-evident. Something can be very difficult and this can be a specific symptom. Knitting does not work anymore or the financial administration is a mess. No sense of place and time. Many people with dementia are often also recognized because they often get lost or do not know the time. They often do not know anymore that they have been somewhere or what time it is.
Language problems
Language problems are common for someone with dementia. It may be that someone suddenly stops in a conversation because he no longer knows what it was about. It is also possible that an SMS message can no longer be followed or is cut off. That there are weird words in it. It may also be the case that someone starts talking gibberishly in a conversation. Getting rid of things, another typical symptom is that people loose things, often they ended up in the most strange places. You can think of: a denture in the oven, an underpants in the fridge, glasses in the freezer and a pack of milk in the toilet. This is because people are very confused. They often no longer know what they are doing. They forget that they did something and then leave it in the fridge, freezer or over. It may sound funny now, but for the person in question this is pretty annoying.
Estimating and assessing becomes difficult, offers can suddenly be wrongly assessed. For example, buy two, one for free and then it is possible that someone with dementia really misunderstands. This may mean that the person takes too much products. This can involve high costs, perhaps it is not even necessary. This is because people with dementia find it difficult to assess and assess things.
Social isolation
A person with dementia is excluded from the outside world. This can be due to shame or fear of failure.
It can happen that someone with dementia prefers to sit in front of the television, rather than going to a bingo night or another social happening. It may be that you are therefore thinking of depression. However, this is not true, it is just fear of failure. People with dementia are afraid to do things wrong, to stand in awe, to fail.
Behavior and character change
Dementia can also negate the behavior and character. As a result, people with dementia experience mood swings, confusion and suspiciousness, anxious behavior or depression. Your neighbor that you love very much can suddenly become another person. For example, he can suddenly be intensely sad, anxious or very angry. It is a symptom which is very annoying and can bring grief. The person with dementia is actually a totally different person.
Inner turmoil
In addition to other problems, there may also be unease in someone with dementia. It is a kind of unrest that someone experiences in himself. It may be that someone with dementia is always losing something and wants to search. It is also possible that they experience something of unrest in themselves, which in turn can lead to sleep problems.
Visual problem
There can often be visual problems with dementia. You can think of: having difficulty reading, estimating distances and distinguishing color or contrast. This does not mean that the eyes no longer work. Sometimes someone with dementia no longer recognizes themselves in the mirror. The eyes, so it is still good, but the visual sent from the brain to the eyes worsens.
Impact family
The impact for the family of someone with dementia can be very large. The person who has dementia is aware of it, but the person will then gradually forget all about it. The environment around the person will get a lot of problems. They see that his partner has changed. He notices that his partner forgets things. It is not a love relationship but a care relationship. However, is this true? If you care for someone out of love because you love them, it is still a love affair somewhere.
However, the romantic and love perils will no longer exist. You lose the person as you knew and knew who you were. That person is no longer going to recognize you. Sad moments may arise. There can be a period of sadness, of memories. It is a difficult situation. It is also not something you choose. It requires a lot of adaptability from the surviving relatives. The one who discovers it will also get a very heavy time.
It usually goes in steps. So you can gradually get used to it. However, it will still be difficult. Sometimes the process can go really fast for someone, but usually it takes a long time and you can still enjoy each other. It is therefore very heavy when you hear the diagnosis. The fact that you are told that your partner will no longer be your partner is very heavy. This can also be your mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, acquaintance, girlfriend or child.
Sometimes the relatives have a suspicion, however, the person does not want to think about it. It is then, as it were, pushed under chairs or benches. It is often related to: old age ailment, stress, depression or Burnout. It is not immediately thought of dementia (a disease). Perhaps it is thought of, but does thdy do not want to think about it.
This can lead to relatives not intervening on time, or that no demtentia test is done, or that the doctor is called too late for an appointment. This is a shame, because even though it is probably an annoying diagnosis and it has a lot of impact on someone, if so, you better be on time to make a good life for those who is suspected with dementia. The longer you wait the harder it gets.
If someone is treated on time, the beautiful moments can still be cherished. There is a different division of roles, but you can respond to that. It does not mean that you can not have it any more. If you or your partner can handle it well, you both feel safe and trusted, it is more tolerable for both of them. Then the moment and even the diagnosis is less heavy. It is already a drastic event for the whole family.
People with dementia know that their lives are going to change. This is also often the reason that they do not want their loved ones to loose everything through them. That their loved ones keep their own lives. They often feel guilty. This is a big impact for those with dementia, but also for the family members themselves. It is a heartbreaking feeling. You want to take care of one side, on the other hand you have to keep thinking about yourself.
It is therefore always wise to call in and accept help at all times. It is therefore always wise not to want to do it alone. With the right help it can become so much more bearable for both parties. The right care can be switched on, so that not everything ends up on the informal caregiver.
In addition, the right adjustments can be made at home. We can look at aids, or tricks to make the person with dementia as independent as possible. There is a lot possible, but it is important that this awareness is there. That people dare to help.
You can do a dementia test on this website using a form with questions for family members and caregivers of suspected dementia patient, to map out any memory problems and cognitive decline in daily functioning. Read more about the test on Dementia test.