During the hustle and bustle of the end of year festivities, with a full house and intense interaction with family members, it is normal to forget to do some important activity or to start behaving differently. However, the meeting is an important opportunity to understand some attitudes that may indicate the onset of dementia in the elderly.
The disease is characterized by progressive deterioration of cognitive functions. It causes loss of memory, reasoning, social and language skills, among other problems. It is estimated that about two million Brazilians live with some form of dementia. According to the Ministry of Health, the expectation is that these numbers will triple by 2050.
Currently, there is no cure for dementia, only treatments using drugs and therapy to deal with the symptoms and slow the progression of the disease.
Alzheimer’s is a degenerative disease caused by the death of brain cells that can appear decades before the first symptoms appear.PM Images/ Getty Images
***Photo-doctor-looking-tomography.jpgBecause it is a disease that tends to get worse over the years, early diagnosis is essential to delay the progression. Therefore, when presenting any symptoms of the disease, it is essential to consult a specialist. Andrew Brookes/Getty Images
***Photo-woman-with-hand-on-head.jpgAlthough the symptoms are more common in people over 70 years of age, it is not uncommon for them to manifest in young people around 30. In fact, when this “premature” manifestation occurs, the condition is called early Alzheimer’s.Westend61/ Getty Images
***Photo-elderly-with-hands-on-head.jpgIn the initial phase, a person with Alzheimer’s tends to have changes in memory and starts to forget simple things, such as: where he kept his keys, what he had for breakfast, someone’s name or even the season of the year.urbazon/ Getty Images
***Photo-person-walking-in-a-maze.jpgDisorientation, difficulty remembering the address where you live or the way home, difficulties in making simple decisions, such as planning what you are going to do or eat, for example, are also signs of the disease.OsakaWayne Studios/ Getty Images
***Photo-elderly-with-hands-on-head-2.jpgIn addition, loss of desire to perform routine tasks, change in behavior (making the person more nervous or aggressive), and repetitions are some of the most common symptoms.Kobus Louw/ Getty Images
***Photo-doctors-looking-tomography.jpgAccording to research carried out by the Alzheimer’s Drugs Discovery Foundation (ADDF), the presence of damaged proteins (Amyloid and Tau), vascular diseases, neuroinflammation, failure of neural and genetic energy (APOE) may be related to the onset of the disease.Rossella De Berti/ Getty Images
***Photo-hands-on-the-table-holding-medicine.jpgAlzheimer’s treatment is done with the use of medications to reduce the symptoms of the disease, in addition to being necessary to perform physical therapy and cognitive stimulation. The disease has no cure and care must be taken until the end of lifeTowfiqu Barbhuiya / EyeEm/ Getty Images
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If any relative has shown any of these signs during Christmas or even in family life, stay tuned and look for a specialist:
- Forgetting names of loved ones;
- Forgetting to turn on the oven;
- Show signs of confusion in a new environment;
- Get lost indoors;
- Forget the children’s gifts;
- Feeling angry, depressed or anxious about memory loss
- Difficulty following conversations.
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