Dementia is not a single disease; it’s an all-encompassing term describing a range of symptoms.
Dementia affects memory, perception, behaviour, language and personality. Alzheimers is the most common and well-known form of dementia.
I am not going to attempt to outline the medical causes and the reasons in this article – I am not a doctor.
I do however understand the statistics and they are frightening – 1 in 10 Australians over the age of 65 will be affected and, even worse, if you make it to 85 your chances are increased threefold.
So how do you recognise if you or someone you care about is being impacted by dementia?
While the early stages of dementia are not easy to identify, be aware of:
Judgement: Decreasing or poor judgement calls
Memory: Frequent memory loss affecting daily activities
Thinking: Increasing inability with abstract thinking
Language: Forgetting simple words
Initiative: Demotivation and loss of initiative
Losing things: Misplacing items or leaving them in inappropriate places
Tasks: Difficulty performing familiar tasks
Personality: Changes in personality, mood or behaviour
Disorientation: With time and place
As we age, what can we do to minimize the risk factors? Continue reading here…..
