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Topics: Health
Jess Hardiman
With the World Health Organization placing dementia as the seventh leading cause of death globally - and the number one leading cause in the UK, according to Alzheimer’s Society - it's hard not to feel daunted by its power.
But while it would be easy to bury your head in the sand and ignore it, experts often warn of the importance of knowing the symptoms in order to best help yourself and your loved ones.
The NHS warns how dementia is ‘not only about memory loss’, explaining: "It can also affect the way you speak, think, feel and behave."
Indeed, it is associated with an ongoing decline of brain function, and may include symptoms including changes in judgement, movement and difficulties carrying out basic daily activities.
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According to one doctor, however, there’s one thing that serves as the biggest early sign.
Speaking to Yahoo, Dr Arif Dalvi, a neurologist and physician chief of the Movement Disorders Program at Delray Medical Center, said spatial issues, along with trouble with speech and directions, could come before the more well-known symptom of memory loss.
“Difficulty with language including word-finding difficulty, incorrect sentence construction or difficulty with self-expression can present well before the loss of memory," he said.
As well as this, there may be an impact on sense of direction, with Dalvi continuing: “Visual or spatial skills can also be affected early.
“A common way this presents is difficulty navigating a previously familiar route or needing GPS directions to a route that was previously known.”
That said, it’s important to be aware of other ‘red flags’, too, with Dr Stanley Appel, neurologist and director of the Ann Kimball & John W. Johnson Center for Cellular Therapeutics at Houston Methodist, saying other, less commonly-known symptoms include difficulty completing familiar tasks, noise sensitivity and even a change in taste and smell.
“An abrupt change in personality or mood without underlying explanation should also raise a red flag,” Dalvi added, saying that, more rarely, you could also see symptoms often related to other neurological issues.
Appel explained: “Some types of dementia, such as Lewy body dementia, can cause hallucinations or delusions.
“It’s crucial to note that hallucinations can also result from other causes, and any unusual symptoms should be discussed with a health care provider.”