Dementia is often thought to be a memory problemlike when an older person asks the same questions over and over again or loses things.
But the reality is that people with dementia not only experience problems in areas of cognition such as memory, learning, thinking, understanding and judgment: they may also experience changes in behavior.
I myself did not imagine that my grandmother’s strange behaviors were a early warning sign of a much more serious illness.
He was easily upset Otherwise something didn’t turn out as expected while cooking. He said see a woman around the houseeven if she was alone. He also distrusted others and hid things in strange places.
Cognitive and behavioral impairment
These behaviors persisted for some time until he was finally diagnosed dementia. That is why I think it is so important to understand what this disease is and how it manifests itself.
When an individual undergoes changes cognitive and behavioral that interfere with your functional independenceis considered to suffer from dementia.
However, when cognitive and behavioral changes do not interfere with a person’s independence, but continue to negatively affect their relationships and work performance, we speak of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild behavioral impairment (MCI)respectively.
MCoL and MCI can occur together, but in a third of people who develop Alzheimer’s dementia, behavioral symptoms appear before cognitive impairment.
Detecting these behavioral changes, which emerge at older ages (from 50 years old) and represent a persistent change with respect to previous patterns, can be useful to apply preventive treatments before more serious symptoms appear. My research focuses on problematic behaviors indicating an increased risk of dementia.
There are mainly five behaviors which should alert us if we observe them in friends and family over 50 years of age.
Signs in adults
Apathy
Apathy is a decrease in interestmotivation and drive.
An apathetic person may lose interest in friends, family, or activities. Can disappear your curiosity for topics that normally interested him, lose motivation to fulfill their obligations or become less spontaneous and active. You may also feel like you lack the emotions you used to have, or that you no longer care about anything.
affective dysregulation
An individual who experiences affective dysregulation may develop sadness or mood instabilitybut also become more anxious or worried about certain events or receiving visitors.
Lack of impulse control
Impulse control implies an inability to delay gratification. A person with impulse control You may become agitated, aggressive, irritable, temperamental, argue a lot, or get frustrated easily.
She may also become more stubborn or rigid, so that she is unwilling to see other points of view and insists on getting her way. Sometimes it can develop sexually disinhibited behaviors or intrusive, exhibit repetitive behaviors or compulsions, begin shoplifting, or experience difficulties to regulate the consumption of substances such as tobacco or alcohol.
Social inadequacy
Social inadequacy refers, mainly, to the difficulty in adhere to social norms in interactions with others.
Socially inadequate people may lose the social judgment they had about what to say or how to behave. They may worry less about how your words or actions affect othersopenly discuss private matters, talk with strangers as if they were familiarsay rude things, or lack empathy in interactions with others.
Abnormal perceptions or thoughts
A person with abnormal perceptions or thoughts may be suspicious of the intentions of others or think that others plan to harm him or steal your belongings. You may also describe hearing voices or talking to imaginary people, and act as if you see things that do not exist.
Before considering any of these behaviors as indicators of a more serious problem, It is important to rule out other possible causes of behavioral change, such as drugs or medications, infections, interpersonal conflicts or stress, or the reappearance of psychiatric symptoms associated with a previous psychiatric diagnosis. When in doubt, it may be time to visit the doctor.
The impact of dementia
Many of us know someone who has suffered from dementia or cared for someone with dementia. Although people between 20 and 40 years old may think that this is not for them because there are decades left for the dementia affectionsit is important to be aware that it is not an individual trip.
In 2020, in Canada, caregivers – including family, friends or neighbors – dedicated 26 hours a week to help seniors living with dementia. This is equivalent to 235,000 full-time jobs.
These figures are expected to triple by 2050, so It is important to look for ways to counteract it preventing or delaying the progression of dementia.
Although there is currently no cure for dementia, it has been advanced towards development of effective treatmentswhich may work better earlier in the course of the disease.
Identify people at risk of dementia by recognizing the changes in cognitionfunctions and behavior throughout life could help prevent the disease and its progression.
Daniella Vellone
