Dementia is an umbrella term that characterizes a vast range of symptoms that affect cognitive function. Dementia occurs when nerve cells in the brain stop working. Even though it usually occurs in patients of advanced age, it can occur earlier due to brain injury or several underlying health conditions (i.e., Parkinson’s disease, etc.). Dementia comes in many forms, with Alzeihmer’s disease being the most prevalent type.

Here are a few early warning symptoms of dementia to look out for:

1. Memory loss

This is one of the commonest signs of Dementia, and it is exhibited in its early stages. It may include forgetting very important events. The patient tends to ask the same questions repeatedly. Others require depending on memory aids, for instance, electronic devices, reminders and notes. They also need family members to do things that they used to do on their own. A patient with Dementia may forget things easily or may not remember them anymore. Repetition is very common in people with Dementia, and it results from memory loss. The person might repeat everyday tasks, or they can obsessively gather things.

2. Problem solving difficulties

Some patients living with Dementia experience different changes in their ability to follow or develop a plan while they are working with numbers to maybe pay a bill. They may have difficulty following a certain recipe or keep track of bills. They have trouble concentration since they take a much longer time to do things.

3. Confusion about time and place

Patients lose track of special dates, seasons and more so the passage of time. They have trouble understanding someone or something if it is not happening now. Sometimes the patient may even forget where they are and how they have gotten there. Victims might find it difficult to recognize events in the past or future and can struggle with dates.

4. Challenges understanding visual information

Visual information becomes a challenge for a person suffering from Dementia. It can be very hard for them to judge distances, to read or identify the differences between colors. A person who has been driving or cycling might begin to have a challenge with these activities.

5. Speech issues

The majority of the people suffering from Dementia may struggle to communicate or have trouble coordinating a conversation. The person may halt in the middle when communicating and fail to get an idea of how they can continue. They may also repeat themselves, struggle with recognizing familiar objects, have trouble with vocabulary, and using wrong names. Some individual’s handwriting becomes even more complex to read. Finding, as well as using the correct words, becomes hard. People with this disease at times fail to remember the meanings of words that they hear.

6. Misplacing personal items

People suffering from this disease usually place things in odd places. They lose many things since they are not capable of retrieving them back. Some put items in unusual places and later forget and accuse other members of the family of stealing.

7. Poor judgment

The person might have complexity in making the right decisions. It can be complex for somebody with Dementia to know what is fair and logical thus he or she gives a poor judgement. As a result, they might end up paying too much for items or become simply certain about purchasing items that they do not require. Some of the people with Dementia don’t pay attention to being neat and respectable.

Omega-3 fatty acids (mostly found in fish oil), vitamin E, other different B vitamins, and memory supplements Prevagen are some of the best supplement brain functions. These supplements greatly help patients with memory problems associated with Dementia