Those who are vulnerable in society need special care. This includes the sickly, the aged and the little ones i.e. our children. Unfortunately, many people fail to recognise a sickly person when that person does not exhibit any obvious symptoms of a given disease. This is usually the case for anybody who suffers from dementia. Those suffering from this type of medical condition fail to get the proper care because people in society do not understand what dementia is and what its symptoms are.
The major symptom of dementia is loss of memory that affects the day to day life of the victim. It becomes difficult for a patient to remember recently learned information. Other signs that shows that a person has memory loss is forgetting events or dates, keeping on asking the same questions and an increasing tendency to rely on other people to assist with performing the simplist of tasks.
The most important thing that you should know in regards to dementia is that it occurs in two distinctive stages i.e. the early stage and the last stage of dementia. This is because dementia is a progressive kind of medical condition. In other words, it gradually deteriorates with time. Similarly, each of these stages has distinctive symptoms. New symptoms will emerge in the late stage of dementia while earlier symptoms will get worse. Here are some of the early symptoms of dementia.
People suffering from dementia are always in conflict at work or home because it is hard for them to finish familiar activities. Following instructions, using appliances such as a television remote or even managing a budget might become difficult for a person suffering from dementia. These symptoms demonstrate the extent in which the normal functioning of the mind is affected by the psychological disorder.
Dementia makes a person look confused. A person seems to be confused in terms of time management, tracking dates and find it hard to adapt to changes of events. Sometimes it might be even difficult for a person to remember when he or she got to a certain destination or the means used to reach there.
Dementia leads to changes in mood and behaviors in a person. A person suffering from dementia tends to demonstrate changes in behaviors or moods without apparent reasons. For instance, it is easy for a person suffering from dementia to be happy at one moment and then become angry at once without any cause.
Bladder and bowel incontinence may also set in. Bear in mind that any person whose bladder and bowel incontinence has set in needs assistance whenever he or she feels like going to the toilet. Another symptom of late stage dementia is the relative loss of mobility. In other words, people in this stage cannot move about without help from others.
As mentioned before, some of the symptoms in early stage dementia become more visible and even worse in late stage dementia. For example, communication in late stage dementia is a huge problem. In certain cases, a person suffering from late stage dementia will lose his or her ability to speak altogether. Other early stage symptoms like memory loss will intensify in this late stage. In fact, people suffering from late stage dementia may not recognise their immediate family members or friends.
Despite that it is common to feel demotivated or loss of initiative, a person with dementia becomes passive and might require a lot of encouragement to get interested in carrying out normal activities such as housework or other social obligations. This can cause a lot of problems at home or even at the work place.
If you are looking for information on the various dementia stages, then please visit the stagesofdementia.org. It is an excellent resource for people wanting a brief introduction to the illness/disease. It also has useful information regarding more in depth Dementia Symptoms.
