Seeing a loved one suffer from Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia can be heartbreaking. Dementia is a term that covers all the symptoms of a disease that interferes with daily activities and affects memory, thinking, and social skills. About 11% of cases of dementia are considered curable. Curable dementia is usually for patients under 65 years of age. Causes of dementia that can be cured, for example, are due to depression, hypothyroidism, and vitamin B12 deficiency. There is no cure for dementia, but there are treatments that can manage the symptoms. Recognizing the early symptoms of dementia can be very useful because it will give you time to prepare and plan how to help the sufferer deal with the disease.
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Part 1 of 2: Watching for Signs of Dementia
Step 1. Watch for memory loss
Everyone forgets from time to time, but people with dementia may have trouble remembering recent events or familiar walking routes/names.
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Everyone's memory is different and everyone forgets sometimes. Family members and close friends can assess whether there is a change in the attitude of the sufferer.
- However, remember that many people often deny that there is a problem. Family members often deny that the grandparent has a problem by taking things that shouldn't be normal or by turning a blind eye to any symptoms.
- There are also family members whose reactions are too extreme or too sensitive to forgetfulness. For example, if a grandmother forgets to take her medicine on time, she may just need to be advised by a doctor or assisted by a nurse to take her medicine regularly, she does not need to be sent to a nursing home immediately.
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Distinguish between normal and abnormal memory loss. With age, memory problems are common. Older people have experienced a lot and their brains may not be as smart as when they were younger. But when memory loss begins to affect daily life, action is necessary. Initial symptoms may vary from person to person, but some of the common signs are:
- Inability to care for oneself: not eating, eating too much, not bathing, not properly dressed, not leaving the house, or going out aimlessly.
- Inability to do daily housework: unable to wash dishes, not taking out the trash, many accidents while cooking, very dirty house, and always wearing dirty clothes.
- Other "odd" behavior: Calling family at 3am and then shutting it off immediately, strange behavior reported by others, or suddenly throwing tantrums for no apparent reason.
- Forgetting when a child graduated from school is very different from forgetting the child's name.
- Forgetting which country borders Spain is also very different from forgetting that Spain is a country.
- If memory loss begins to interfere with daily activities, the individual should be taken to a doctor for further examination.
Step 2. Watch for difficulties in doing things that person would normally do easily
People with dementia may forget to serve freshly cooked food or forget that they have cooked. People with dementia may also have difficulty performing daily routines such as dressing properly. In general, try to see if there is a drastic deterioration in the way he dresses and maintains personal hygiene. If the individual begins to have difficulty performing daily routines, consider taking him to the doctor for further examination.
Step 3. Watch for any communication difficulties
Sometimes people can forget a word. But a person with dementia gets irritated when he fails to remember a word. That annoyance may be vented on the other party and then of course both parties will be even more angry.
- Language change usually begins with difficulty remembering words, phrases, and expressions.
- This language difficulty will get worse until he has difficulty understanding other people's words.
- Eventually the person will lose all communication skills. At this stage, the person can only communicate with gestures and facial expressions.
Step 4. Watch for signs of confusion
People with dementia often experience confusion over space, time, and context. This is different from mere memory loss or temporary senility. Confusion over space, time, and context of circumstances indicates that the person cannot understand where he is.
- Confusion over space can cause the sufferer to lose his direction so that north is mistaken for south, east is mistaken for west. That person can also forget the route in the middle of the road, travel aimlessly, forget how to get somewhere, and can't go home.
- Time disorientation is characterized by behavior that does not match the clock. The signs may be difficult to detect, such as shifts in eating or sleeping hours. But it can also be quite conspicuous, for example: having breakfast in the middle of the night and getting ready for bed in broad daylight.
- Place disorientation is confusion over the location so that the person's behavior does not match the place. Maybe that person will think the mall is his room and then rage because many people "indiscriminately enter".
- The individual will find it difficult to do simple things outside the home due to space disorientation. This can be very dangerous because he is not able to do anything outside the house.
Step 5. Don't ignore any misplaced objects
If you just forget your car keys in your pants pocket, this is still normal. People with dementia often put things in places that don't make sense.
- Example: wallet is put in the refrigerator while food is put in a cabinet in the toilet.
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Be aware that people with dementia due to old age are more likely to deny or reject explanations, even trying to explain their odd behavior. Be careful, don't get caught up in the argument at this stage, as you'll have a hard time resuscitating him and will make him even more angry. It's possible that the person is in denial and doesn't want to face the harsh reality. For him, it's easier to make you an "enemy" than to face the truth.
Recognize Signs of Senile Dementia Step 5
Step 6. Watch for difficulties with abstract and logical thinking
Normal people can forget where to put their savings book, but people with dementia can even forget the concept of counting. The person may forget that the whistling of the teapot means that the water is already boiling, so it will be left until the water has evaporated.
Step 7. Watch for changes in behavior and personality
Sometimes a person's mood can be unstable, aka moody, but people with dementia can change their behavior very drastically and quickly. The individual may go from being overjoyed to suddenly furious or he may in general become quickly irritated and paranoid. The sufferer is often aware that they are having problems in their daily routines and this is frustrating, so they can take it out in the form of annoyance, paranoia, or the like.
Again, do not irritate the sufferer by scolding him as this will only make things difficult for both parties
Step 8. Watch for signs of excessive passive behavior
Maybe that person no longer wants to go to places he used to frequent, doesn't want to do his hobby anymore, or doesn't want to meet people he used to often meet. As daily activities become more and more difficult, the sufferer may become more withdrawn, more depressed, lose enthusiasm for doing anything at home or outside the home.
- Notice if the individual sits in a chair for hours just staring at something or watching television.
- Watch him if his activity declines, his personal hygiene declines, and he has difficulty performing daily routines.
Step 9. Compare his current behavior with his past
Symptoms of dementia include a number of odd behaviors and decreased abilities. One sign is not enough to be sure. Just forgetting doesn't mean you have dementia. Watch for a combination of all the symptoms mentioned above. The more familiar you are with the person, the easier it will be to notice a change in behavior.
Part 2 of 2: Confirming the Signs
Step 1. Identify the different types of dementia
Dementia is highly variable and can differ from one patient to another. Usually, the direction of the disease can be guessed if the initial cause is known.
- Alzheimer's disease - dementia due to this disease develops gradually and usually over years. The exact cause is unknown, but plaques and tangles of neurofibrillary structures are often found in the brains of people with this disease.
- Lewy body dementia: protein deposits called Lewy bodies can develop in the brain's nerve cells, causing decreased thinking, memory, and motor control. Hallucinations can also occur so that the sufferer behaves strangely, such as talking to people who are not real.
- Multi-infarct dementia (multi-infarct): This type of dementia occurs when the patient suffers from a number of strokes that block blood vessels in the brain. People with this type of dementia may experience only a few symptoms for a period until they have another stroke and then the dementia gets worse.
- Frontotemporal Dementia: For this type of dementia, the forebrain and temporal regions shrink so that the sufferer experiences behavioral changes and language difficulties. This type usually affects people aged 40-75 years.
- Normal pressure hydrocephalus: fluid buildup can put pressure on the brain causing dementia that occurs gradually or suddenly, depending on the speed at which the pressure builds up. CT or MRI scans can detect this type of dementia.
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: this type is rare and is a fatal brain disorder. This species is believed to be the result of rare organisms called prions. This organism may have been present in the patient for a long time before symptoms of the disease appear and then suddenly dementia occurs. In this case, the biopsy will find the protein from the prion that is believed to be the cause of the disease.
Step 2. Take the patient to the doctor
If you have noticed a number of symptoms and behavioral changes, then you should seek professional help. Usually a general practitioner can already diagnose the presence of dementia. After that, usually the patient should be referred to a specialist, such as a neurologist or gerontologist.
Step 3. Prepare the patient's medical record
The medical record should also include a record of how and when dementia symptoms occurred. Based on this data, your doctor may order tests for your red blood cell count, blood sugar, or thyroid hormone. The tests depend on the type of dementia the doctor suspects.
Step 4. Tell the doctor about all the medications the patient is taking
Some drug combinations may cause dementia-like symptoms or make dementia worse. Sometimes, a combination of unrelated drugs to treat a number of different illnesses can cause dementia-like symptoms. Mixing drugs like this is common in the elderly, so make sure you have a complete record of all the drugs the patient is taking.
Some examples of drugs that often cause symptoms of dementia are: benzodiazepines, beta antagonists (beta-blockers), selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, neuroleptics, and diphenhydramine. Remember that these are only some examples
Step 5. Get ready to be asked to undergo a complete medical examination
A medical examination may reveal a disorder that is causing dementia or something mixed with it. There is also the possibility that the health problem that occurs is not dementia at all. Health problems that may be associated, for example: heart disease, stroke, nutritional deficiencies, or kidney failure. The variety of these health conditions can give clues about the type of dementia that needs to be treated.
Doctors can also suggest undergoing a psychological examination to see if depression is also affecting the patient's condition
Step 6. Let the doctor do a cognitive ability test
These tests may include tests of memory, math, language, writing, drawing, mentioning objects, and following directions. These tests can test cognitive and motor skills.
Step 7. Perform a neurological examination
These tests may include tests of the patient's balance, reflexes, senses, and other bodily functions. This test is to check if there are other health problems and determine which symptoms can be treated. The doctor may also suggest a brain scan to look for early causes such as stroke and tumors. Usually the scan is in the form of MRI and CT tests.
Step 8. Understand whether the type of dementia that occurs can be cured or not
Depending on the cause, there are types of dementia that can be treated and cured with medical assistance. However, there are also types of dementia that are progressive and incurable. You need to know which type of dementia you have in order to plan for the future.
- Causes of dementia that can be cured include: hypothyroidism, neurosyphilis, vitamin B12/folate deficiency, thiamine deficiency, depression, and subdural hematoma.
- Causes of dementia that can not be cured for example: Alzheimer's disease, dementia multiinfak, and dementia due to HIV.
