How to spot signs of dementia in a loved one

Julie Staple, an American woman, was a child when her father, Mark Womack, began to show strange behavior. An award-winning producer of violins, violas and cellos, Womack did not respond to customers and did not return telephone calls as soon as possible. He watched more television and took more breaks at work. He started drinking and quickly became angry.

The behavior lasted for years and had adverse consequences. Staple and her mother, professional violinist Ginny Womack, thought Mark Womack was depressed.

His parents divorced. Mark Womack was fired from two jobs in instrument manufacturing in Nebraska and Texas. There were other disturbing events. A body shop would not repair his car because he could not remember information about insurance. A drive from his parents' home that normally took two hours took five.

And then his boss called the family: Mark Womack was crying and did not know how to make a violin. The boss took him to a clinic.

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At the age of 53, Mark Womack was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease in September 2015. Further evaluation conducted a few months earlier revealed a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia or FTD .

Ginny Womack became her guardian.

"If my mother had known, she would never have divorced her and would have been her guardian from the start," said Staple, of Deerfield, in Illinois.

FTD is often misdiagnosed as a psychiatric disorder or Alzheimer's disease. It affects the region of the brain usually associated with personality, behavior and language and is often diagnosed in people aged 40 to 45 years.

In the United States, about 5.8 million people are living with Alzheimer's and dementia, said Heather Snyder, senior director of medical and scientific operations at the Alzheimer's Association. That number is expected to reach 14 million by 2050. About 16 million people are caregivers.

Halima Amjad, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that about 60% of people with dementia symptoms are unreported, whether for reasons of denial or shame.

So what should family members look for? What is attributable to normal aging as opposed to cognitive decline associated with dementia?

It is common to lose keys or glasses or walk into a room with a task in mind and forget what it is. These are often attributed to multitasking or stress and are considered part of normal aging.

"It's one thing to find your glasses on your head, it's another thing to find them in the freezer," said Lisa Rindner, social worker at Iona Senior Services in Washington, who works with families facing the challenges of aging, Alzheimer's disease and dementia. .

Rindner advises families to seek advice even if their concerns are not extreme.

"I'm very grateful when people come for a consultation, and it's not a crisis," Rindner said. "Educate yourself and explore the options before you need them so that when you need help, you will not be knocked out – we make better choices in the absence of crisis."

Nancy Berg of Vernon Hills, Illinois, said there were warning signs of Alzheimer's disease long before her father, Bert Rose, was diagnosed. For more than 60 years, Rose has played piano with the Bert Rose Orchestra and has been produced at events and weddings, including the weddings of Sharon Percy and Jay Rockefeller. He has accompanied celebrities such as Ann-Margret, Debbie Reynolds and Brooke Shields.

Widowed in 1984, Rose was used to leading an independent life. He was still working in his 80s when his daughter noticed small signs: word recovery problems and recurrent stories. Then Rose began to get lost from Berg's house, a road he had traveled several times.

Always keen with his appearance, he started wearing sweaters in hot weather. In restaurants, he asked his family what he liked to eat. And about a year before his diagnosis, he had trouble filling out a bank deposit slip, including neither the date nor the method of entry.

The scariest case, Berg said, is when his father laughed that he had started his car without opening the garage door first.

"I would have liked to know the signs to look for.We could have him leave his home earlier to find out that he was safe," Berg said.

Rose died about 18 months ago. Although much of his memory was gone, he continued to play the piano for the residents of the nursing home where he lived until the end of his life, Berg said.

Families with elderly parents need to know their baseline and standard, Rindner said. Be careful when a loved one can not remember a conversation, miss an appointment, do not pay his bills, his phone is off or his TV does not work.

"People have a remarkable way to mask the decline," said Rindner. "It may take a while to see the red flags."

Here are some things to look for:

– Notes with reminders on simple tasks.
– When neighbors or friends share concerns.
– Invoices not paid or overpaid.
– Physical appearance – a person always assembled suddenly wears crumpled or dirty clothes.
– Weight changes.
– Driving problems: clashes, parking in the wrong place.
– Any behavior that comes out of the ordinary.
– Pick up an object and use it inappropriately.
– Say inappropriate things – "no filter".
– Changes of speech, of personality.

Rachael Wonderlin, owner of Dementia by Day and a specialist in dementia, encourages families to get involved early.

"If you think something is wrong, talk about it," said Wonderlin. "It's worse to ignore it." I've seen families wait far too long to remove keys from the car. People have been waiting for a long time because they're afraid and repel it. . "

Wonderlin said to take note of what she calls "well, it was a strange moment". For example, Wonderlin rated a woman and saw no deficit – until the woman asked her if she could make a phone call and take the TV remote.

It's normal for people not to remember everything at the age of 60 ", but if your memory was impeccable and suddenly you can not remember one thing – and you've slept enough, you eat well, exercise and hydrate – this is a concern, "said Wonderlin.

In addition, said Wonderlin, older partners tend to finish their thoughts, which may mask the problem.

"I met a couple and the woman has dementia," said Wonderlin. "I needed her husband so that he did not speak.He answered the questions because he loves her and that he should not confuse her.So he did housework and ended sentences, which prevented family members from realizing that there was a problem. "

And move the family members to an assisted life before there is a crisis, said Wonderlin. People are more open when they realize that it is necessary.

"Do not count on" everything is fine so far ", it will not stay good," she said.