Families often dismiss early symptoms as “just ageing.” But there are clues that should raise concern.
Dr Krishnan said, “Memory errors eventually affect day-to-day functioning of the individual. They have difficulty remembering the date, miss important deadlines, miss errands, and forget to buy some items from a list of items they had in their mind.”
People may also struggle to learn new things.
“Learning new information or new hobbies is particularly difficult,” he said.
Other signs include confusion about timelines and events.
“Some of them get confused with the timelines of events and may mix up events that have happened in the past with events that happened recently.”
Another important warning sign is lack of awareness about the problem.
“Many patients with dementia do not acknowledge that they have a problem and may argue if memory errors are pointed out.”
The disease can also affect other thinking abilities.
“The individual may demonstrate other difficulties along with forgetfulness, like difficulties in naming, performing multi-step activities that require some planning and sequence, calculation, managing money and navigating routes.”
These changes can slowly rob a person of independence, often before the family realises something serious is happening.