Experts have shared ten common warning signs that someone you love—or yourself—is developing dementia, an incurable memory-robbing disease.
Dementia is Britain’s biggest killer, and there are around 944,000 people in the UK living with the condition, and around 7million in the US.
There are several types of dementia, but the most common is Alzheimer’s Disease which affects around six in 10 people diagnosed with the condition.
While there is no cure for dementia, early diagnosis allows time for personalised treatment plans to be put in place, and for doctors to prescribe drugs and treatments which can prolong the onset of the disease.
Helen Metcalfe, who works as one of Dementia UK’s 450 Admiral Nurses—a fleet of caregivers who support people diagnosed with the disease and their loved ones— has front line experience of how the condition can manifest at all stages.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Ms Metcalfe shared some of the early warning signs of the disease, which in hindsight, loved ones pinpoint as a significant behavioural change.
She said: ‘The brain is such a complex organ, and everybody’s journey is completely different. It is often only after diagnosis that families look back and recognise there were a few signs that were not obvious at the time.’
The publication also spoke to Jonathan Schott, who is the chief medical officer for Alzheimer’s Research UK and a professor of neurology at the Dementia Research Centre, UCL.
While there is no cure for dementia, early diagnosis allows time for personalised treatment plans to be put in place (file photo)
He explained that while memory loss is often the symptom people are most aware of when looking for signs of dementia or Alzhemier’s, often memory isn’t affected and the disease is evident in other areas.
Professor Schott said: ‘There’s more to cognition than memory. Sometimes there are people who have dementia and whose memory is fine.
‘Instead, the condition may affect their vision or their behaviour.
‘We think that the underlying brain changes that cause dementia happen many years before symptoms arise, and start slowly and subtly.’
Between them the experts revealed nine early signs of dementia which can appear along with—or without—memory loss.
Some of the early warning signs can be found in changes to someone’s usual behaviour—they might start acting in ways which are socially unacceptable, such as taking food from other people’s plates.
There could be more worrying behaviour come into play at the dinner table, with the experts citing a change in dietary habits as being something to look into.
Ms Metcalfe said that if someone starts to like or dislike a food, that can be a red flag.
Dementia is Britain’s biggest killer, and there are around 944,000 people in the UK living with the condition
Around 900,000 Britons are currently thought to have the memory-robbing disorder. But University College London scientists estimate this will rise to 1.7 million within two decades as people live longer. It marks a 40 per cent uptick on the previous forecast in 2017
‘They may develop an aversion to certain food colours, textures or smells. Some may report a metallic taste,’ she said.
Another form of the disease, Lewy body dementia (LBD), which is related to Parkinson’s disease, can cause sufferers to struggle with coordination.
The loss of their fine motor skills can make using cutlery and feeding themselves difficult.
LBD can also cause visual hallucinations. Professor Schott said: ‘They are typically silent and non-threatening.
‘They are often small. For example, someone will see a crumb on the carpet that’s not there.’
If someone begins to crave sweet foods, that can be a symptom of Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) the rare dementia which Hollywood star Bruce Willis was diagnosed with in spring 2022.
Another classic symptom of FTD is changes to someone’s personality.
This can look like a loss of sympathy, empathy and humour—which can also mirror typical symptoms of depression.
People with dementia benefit from getting an early diagnosis (file photo)
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. The disease can cause anxiety, confusion and short-term memory loss
‘Laughing at things which might be inappropriate, or not finding things funny that they formerly found amusing can also be a symptom,’ said Ms Metcalfe.
One form of FTD, primary progressive aphasia (PPA), can stop people from understanding words and using limited language, which Professor Schott describes as ‘losing their own personal dictionary…They can’t quite find the correct word and talk in generalities.’
Another subtype of FTD—behavioural variant FTD (bvFTD)—can amplify some sufferer’s sex drives, causing them to act in ways which can be shocking and upsetting to loved ones.
Professor Schott explained: ‘Some people with bvFTD can become disinhibited and display inappropriate sexual behaviour, such as making sexually explicit comments to strangers or loved ones.’
The link between Alzheimer’s Disease and vision issues are well documented, with people unable to find things on cluttered surfaces
Professor Schott said that sometimes these problems can be due to a rare form of the condition called posterior cortical atrophy which is ‘characterised by progressive degeneration of brain cells in the back of the brain. It tends to affect people in their 50s and 60s.’
Vision issues can also show up as banging into things. Ms Metcalfe said: ‘You might notice someone bumping into an object.
‘It’s quite common that someone thinks a step is there when there isn’t one.
‘As a dementia specialist nurse, if I hear that someone’s had a fall, I will be assessing whether that could be a depth-perception issue.’
The final warning sign was having nightmares. Ms Metcalfe said: ‘People might report that their dreams have become more vivid.
‘What we sometimes see in dementia is more movements during sleep. We think that this is a response to very vivid dreaming.’
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