Dementia Symptoms

Alzheimer's, Healthy Aging
on December 13, 2011

Dementia is term for a collection of symptoms that can be caused by various brain disorders. It's a chronic and often progressive condition. Dementia can affect your memory, judgment, behavior and ability to communicate. It's not an aging disease, although it does occur more frequently in older adults. Diseases such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's can cause dementia symptoms to appear.

Early symptoms. Dementia doesn't come on overnight. There may be several small, almost unnoticeable changes in your normal abilities. Often people attribute these lapses to the aging process. You may struggle to remember names or to find the right word for a common object. Dementia begins to affect the memory, making it difficult to remember where you've placed things or even how to find your way to a familiar destination such as the grocery store. You may feel apathetic about hobbies you used to enjoy. Another early sign of dementia is a struggle to do things that have always been easy, such as playing a game or paying your bills.

As symptoms worsen. Dementia progresses at different rates for different people. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), when dementia worsens, its symptoms become more obvious. These symptoms may include the inability to remember details of your own personal history or current events. Speech is affected, as are the abilities to read and write. Your sleep can be affected, as well as your ability to drive or even prepare a simple meal. Dementia can cause unreasonable irritability, depression, hallucinations and violent behavior. At this stage, a dementia sufferer may not be able to recognize danger to himself or to others. With these symptoms, a person suffering from dementia has to have care and help.

Severe dementia symptoms. In the later stages of dementia, you may have severely impaired language and communication skills. The ability to perform personal tasks such as bathing, grooming and even eating will significantly decline or become non-existent. Incontinence occurs, and as dementia progresses, assistance with using the toilet will be needed. Delusions, hallucinations and personality alterations will continue to worsen. Eventually, even the ability to walk may be lost.

Research into dementia is ongoing through organizations such as the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the NIH, as well as other medical research facilities at hospitals and universities. If you suspect dementia may be affecting your life or the life of a loved one, consult your physician. Often dementia can be diagnosed with a consultation and an exam including neurological testing.