Signs and symptoms of mild dementia include memory loss, confusion about the location of familiar places, taking longer than usual to accomplish normal daily tasks, trouble handling money and paying bills, poor judgment leading to bad decisions, loss of spontaneity and sense of initiative, mood and personality changes, ...
In the early stages of dementia, a person's symptoms are often relatively mild and not always easy to notice. Common early-stage symptoms include problems with memory, speed of thought, language or perception.
Pre-dementia or early-stage dementia.
In this initial phase, a person can still live independently and may not exhibit obvious memory loss or have any difficulty completing regular tasks. Mild dementia symptoms mimic episodes of age-related forgetfulness.
Introduction: The five-word test (5WT) is a serial verbal memory test with semantic cuing. It is proposed to rapidly evaluate memory of aging people and has previously shown its sensitivity and its specificity in identifying patients with AD.
The Mini-Cog test.
A third test, known as the Mini-Cog, takes 2 to 4 minutes to administer and involves asking patients to recall three words after drawing a picture of a clock. If a patient shows no difficulties recalling the words, it is inferred that he or she does not have dementia.
Dementia progresses differently in each person; some may progress through each stage quickly after diagnosis, and others may keep their independence for years. The early stage of dementia may last about 2 years.
There are many different types of dementia and all of them are progressive. This means symptoms may be relatively mild at first but they get worse with time, usually over several years.
Depression, nutritional deficiencies, side-effects from medications and emotional distress can all produce symptoms that can be mistaken as early signs of dementia, such as communication and memory difficulties and behavioural changes.
All types of dementia are progressive. This means that the structure and chemistry of the brain become increasingly damaged over time.
The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam, known as SAGE, is a brief, pen-and-paper cognitive assessment tool designed to detect the early signs of cognitive, memory, or thinking impairments. The test evaluates your thinking abilities. This can help your doctors understand how well your brain is functioning.
The main sign of mild cognitive impairment is a slight decline in mental abilities. Examples include: Memory loss: You may forget recent events or repeat the same questions and stories. You may occasionally forget the names of friends and family members or forget appointments or planned events.
The following are used to temporarily improve dementia symptoms. Cholinesterase inhibitors. These medicines work by boosting levels of a chemical messenger involved in memory and judgment. They include donepezil (Aricept, Adlarity), rivastigmine (Exelon) and galantamine (Razadyne ER).
Many people with early-stage dementia continue to manage their everyday activities. But it's important to look ahead to a time when performing daily tasks will be harder. The sooner you adopt new strategies to help you cope with changes, the more time you will have to adjust to them.
There's no certain way to prevent all types of dementia, as researchers are still investigating how the condition develops. However, there's good evidence that a healthy lifestyle can help reduce your risk of developing dementia when you're older.
People with dementia often rely on their routines as a source of comfort. A daily routine helps a person know what to expect. This means that a sudden disruption in routine may cause dementia symptoms to get worse. This is especially true if a person experiences stress.
It is quite common for a person with dementia, especially in the later stages, to spend a lot of their time sleeping – both during the day and night. This can sometimes be distressing for the person's family and friends, as they may worry that something is wrong.
Stage 2: Very mild cognitive decline
Or this stage could include some of the beginning signs of dementia that are often not obvious to doctors and loved ones. Some of the side effects that correspond with stage 2 include: Forgetting everyday phrases or names.
Alzheimer's disease
The causes of Alzheimer's are not entirely clear, but healthcare professionals find clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid in the brains of people with this disease. Alzheimer's often develops gradually and may be the slowest of all types to progress.
The five-minute cognitive test (FCT) was designed to capture deficits in five domains of cognitive abilities, including episodic memory, language fluency, time orientation, visuospatial function, and executive function.
The clock-drawing test can be given by a doctor or other qualified professional. It only requires a pencil and a piece of paper with a pre-drawn circle on it. The doctor will first ask the person to draw the numbers on the face of the clock. Next, the person will be asked to draw the hands to show a specific time.
Solomon, PhD developed a brief neurocognitive screening battery to identify AD patients. The 7 Minute Screen™ consists of four individual tests (orientation, memory, clock drawing, verbal fluency). The screen can be rapidly administered and scored and therefore may be appropriate for use in the primary care setting.
The SAGE test is a 12-question exam that measures cognitive functioning and may help a physician determine whether Alzheimer's is present.