The importance of early detection and early intervention can't be stressed strongly enough. It could mean added years of lucidity and life for you or someone you love.
10 warning signs of Alzheimer's Disease, put together by the Alzheimer's Association:
1. Memory changes that disrupt daily life
2. Challenges in planning or solving problems
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure
4. Confusion with time or place
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
6. New problems with words in speaking or writing
7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
8. Decreased or poor judgment
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities
10. Changes in mood and personality
SOURCE
I started having #8, 9, and 10 when I took this job.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a typical nursing student to me....
ReplyDeleteMay I presume to add two caveats?
ReplyDelete1) People with a dementia are VERY GOOD at masking their symptoms. You have to know precisely what to look for or you'll miss it.
2) Spouses are almost always in denial; adult children are reluctant to step in and remove a parent's autonomy--especially if the parent is at a contrary and obstreperous point in the disease.
Result of the above: afflicted people are almost always well into the middle stages of the disease and have done something dangerous or outrageous before anyone steps in, thus negating the value of early detection. Medical personnel know next to nothing about dementia and are often complicitous in ignoring the warning signs. (The MME is a joke and, in any case, isn't meaningful in the early stages.)
At a bit of a loss as to why early intervention can add years of lucidity to your life.the available drugs surely do not do that when you look at their trials
ReplyDelete