What are the Early Signs of Dementia?
7 May 2019Dementia is an illness affecting 50 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. At early stages of the disease, many people dismiss symptoms as mere forgetfulness and something altogether harmless. Early recognition of dementia symptoms can be instrumental in acting to delay the progression of the disease and maintain independence as long as possible for those who have dementia.
Early Signs of Dementia
In its earliest stages, symptoms of dementia are generally recognized as forgetfulness. Not just forgetting things like names and dates. Forgetting faces. Forgetting words. Getting lost in places that should be familiar. Short-term memory is usually the most profoundly impacted in early stages while long-term memories, for now, remain intact.
Many people hide the symptoms well. Sometimes as a result of denial and at other times out of a need to appear in command so they can maintain their independence longer. If you’re not around a loved one who may be in the early stages of dementia you may notice other changes, like the following:
- Caring for their home or appearance less than in the past.
- Difficulty balancing checkbooks and the money problems that result.
- Suddenly becoming more repetitive than normal. Repeating words or concepts as they try to wrap their minds around them. Even repeating tasks (like brushing teeth) because they’ve forgotten they’ve done them.
- Social withdrawal.
- Easy agitation or confusion.
- Personality or behavioral changes.
- Continuously misplacing things.
- Losing track of time, days, months, or even seasons.
As the disease progresses, the symptoms become more pronounced and can become detrimental to physical health as patients often become more prone to wandering. More forgetful about things like taking medications, meal preparation, etc. This is why GPS tracking for dementia, especially in the early stages is a good idea. As the disease progresses, GPS tracking for the elderly with dementia becomes even more critical to help maintain their safety.
Dementia is a disease that is difficult to live through and often even more difficult to walk. At later stages of the disease, patients may experience extreme weight loss or gain due to difficulty eating, chewing, and swallowing food. Other challenges they may face include increasing volatility related to constant confusion, restlessness, gradual loss of speech and bodily functions, and an increasing vulnerability to infections and illnesses.
There is no cure for dementia. But you can delay the progression with early treatment and help loved ones maintain their independence longer with technology like GPS tracking for elderly individuals with memory impairment issues.
To learn more about GPS tracking for dementia patients, call us at 1-888-544-0494.
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