LIFESTYLE NEWS - If you are forgetful, get confused about which day of the week it is, forget names and have to retrace your steps to remember where you put items, it does not necessarily mean you have dementia.
You might have a condition, the symptoms of which mimic those of dementia.
This is according to Mossel Bay neurologist Dr André Leonard.
He was the speaker at the final Mossel Bay Alzheimer's Support Group meeting for the year, which was held in September.
September was World Alzheimer's Month and this year the theme was the early intervention in and diagnosis of dementia.
Dr Leonard said common causes of dementia-like symptoms included depression, delirium, side effects from some medicines, thyroid problems, certain vitamin deficiencies and excessive use of alcohol.
It is important to recognise these underlying causes of symptoms because, unlike dementia, they can be reversed with treatment.
Also, normal changes which occur with advanced age, not necessarily dementia, include the following:
• Sometimes forgetting names or appointments.
• Occasionally needing help to use the settings of a microwave or to record a TV show.
• Getting confused about the day or the week, but working it out later.
• Sometimes having trouble finding the right word.
• Misplacing things from time to time and retracing steps to find them.
• Making a bad decision once in a while.
• Sometimes feeling weary of work, family and social obligations.
• Developing highly specific ways of doing things and becoming irritable when a routine is disrupted.
Dr Leonard noted that for a diagnosis of dementia to be made by a professional healthcare provider, the DSM-5 criteria was widely used in combination with other screening examinations to establish degrees to which cognitive function, memory, inhibitory control, problem-solving, planning, initiation, decision making and personality might be affected.
Dr Leonard reminded attendees at the meeting of the "six pillars" for prevention of dementia: regular exercise, a healthy diet, optimising your medical health state, getting enough sleep and relaxation, practising mental fitness and having regular social interaction.
For more information on the Alzheimer's Support Group, contact facilitator Maria van Staden (044 698 1509 or 072 236 5488).
'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'
