Warning Signs of Dementia

“Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.” – Oscar Wilde

Warning Signs of Dementia

Memory changes as we age can be unsettling, leaving many of us wondering if what we’re experiencing is just a normal part of getting older or something more serious, like dementia. It’s important to recognize that there’s a subtle overlap between age-related memory changes and the warning signs of dementia. In this article, we’ll explore these warning signs in a way that’s easy to understand.

Consider the following symptoms of Dementia:

Working Memory

Do you find it challenging to remember things you just learned or heard? This could be a sign of dementia.

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Episodic Memory

Trouble remembering specific events or experiences from your past.

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Immediate Recall Difficulty

Struggling to remember information right after learning it.

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Slower Retrieval and Rapid Forgetting

Finding it takes longer to recall information, and forgetting things more quickly.

More Examples

Prospective Memory Challenges

Difficulty remembering to perform tasks in the future without external reminders.

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Autobiographical Memory Changes

Memories across your lifespan become less detailed and more vague.

More Examples

What can ‘offset’ these changes or help you cope with them?

Intelligence, expertise, and using compensatory strategies can help cope with memory changes.

Examples:

Using tools like calendars or setting reminders on your phone to help remember important dates or tasks.

Using mnemonic devices to remember important information.
Writing notes to yourself to remember tasks or appointments.
Creating a daily routine to help remember daily tasks and activities

Note: Memory specialists are trained with information that greatly exceeds these very simple everyday strategies found on the internet. Clinical oversight is recommended if you feel some of these symptoms have described you.

Bottom Line:

If you or a loved one are experiencing these warning signs of dementia, it’s essential to seek help from a local memory specialist. While it can be challenging to confront these changes, getting an evaluation and discussing options early on can lead to better outcomes and quality of life. Remember, you’re not alone, and there are resources available to support you through this journey.

References

Baddeley, A. D., Kopelman, M. D., & Wilson, B. A. (2004). The essential handbook of memory disorders for clinicians. Chichester, West Sussex, England ;: J. Wiley.

Cohen, C., Culver, C., Gomberg, D., Magai, C., & Malatesta, C. (1996). Emotional Expression During Mid- to Late-Stage Dementia. International psychogeriatrics, 8(3), 383-395. doi:10.1017/S104161029600275X

Early Memory Loss and Confusion

Conditions We Treat, Dementias, Neurological Rehabilitation, Progressive Neurological Diseases

Early Memory Loss and Confusion

Authored by Michelle Eliason, MS, OTR/L, CKTS, C.D.S.

Symptoms of Early Memory Loss and Confusion You Should Take Seriously

If you are experiencing signs and symptoms of early memory loss, it is important to take them seriously. Although there are a variety of factors why you would be having difficulty remembering information, any brain changes should be a concern.

Some symptoms of early memory changes include:

Word-finding difficulties to items you should know
Forgetting details of what was said in a conversation or phone call that took place less than 10 minutes ago
Frequently forgetting why you entered a room (more than 3 times a day)
Getting lost when driving to locations you have frequently visited
Personality changes (lethargic, increased desire to be alone, irritable, short-tempered)
Sleeping more
Harder time managing finances and appointments
Increasing difficulty managing tasks you are used to managing (multi-tasking)
Work performance is being affected at your place of employment

Causes of Early Memory Loss and Confusion

Stress
Alcohol and Drugs Misuse
Anxiety and Depression
Prescription side-effects
Neurodegenerative Illness
Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury
Oxygen Loss
Brain Infections

Neurodegenerative Illnesses

Alzheimer’s disease
Vascular cognitive impairment
Dementia with Lewy bodies
Stroke
Frontotemporal dementia
Parkinson’s disease
Huntington’s disease
Traumatic brain injury

Find out more specific information about your diagnosis:

How can occupational therapy benefit you if you are having early memory loss?

Occupational therapy can greatly benefit you if you are concerned about specific symptoms. Early memory loss is a sign that something somewhere in your brain is not functioning as optimally as it could. Just as you would not ignore your right arm if you were having difficulty raising it, you should not ignore memory loss. With the right early intervention strategies, you can improve your symptoms. You will also have a healthcare professional to monitor your confusion each year in order to provide early intervention if the need arises.

Comprehensive Evaluation
Memory screening and follow-up
Neurocentric Rehabilitation

Occupational Therapy Interventions to Improve Your Memory

What type of intervention is used by a neuro-centered rehabilitation team?

Neurodevelopmental Techniques
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation
Cross Crawl Strategies
Neuromuscular Re-education
Neurocognitive Strategies
Heavy Work
Brain Work
Habituation Techniques
Staging
Screening
Education

Helpful Page Definititions

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) are essential for independence in life roles and required for aging in place. There are 8 activities core activities for independence including cooking, cleaning, communication, taking and managing medication, handling your personal finances, transportation and community mobility, shopping

Cooking - The ability to follow a recipe and having the stamina to prepare a meal for yourself and/or your family

Cleaning - The ability to perform light housekeeping including making your bed, doing your laundry, washing the dishes, taking out the trash, vacuuming, sweeping, cleaning your bathroom, etc.

Communication - The ability to use the telephone, the computer, have conversations with people (familiar and strangers), communicate your needs clearly.

Taking medication - The ability to sort and organize your medication or determine a compensatory method to do so as well as taking the appropriate dosage at the appropriate time.

Personal Finances - The ability to establish an organization method to understand financial responsibilities and pay your bills on time.

Transportation - Whether you are driving, calling for a driving service like a taxi or Uber, or taking public education. You must have a defined action plan for community mobility and transportation.

Shopping - The ability to plan transportation, plan a grocery/clothing list of needs for yourself and your home, have the stamina to collect your items at the store, and be able to get them into your house.

Activities of Daily Living

Occupational therapists are trained in occupations and activity analysis. An occupation is an activity that you believe is important to your life. There are many levels of occupations, but activities of daily living (ADLs) are the most personal activities and are usually the ones people find most important if they were to lose the ability to complete them.

ADLs include:

Bathing and showering
Getting dressed
Going to the bathroom
Walking and getting up and down from a chair or car
Eating and swallowing
Feeding
Sexual activity
Personal hygiene and grooming
Being able to use personal care devices like adaptive equipment and durable medical equipment

Progressive Neurological Disorders (PND)

Progressive Neurological Disorders (PNDs) are diagnoses that are progressive in nature and cause a decline in function throughout their progression. They are also known as neurodegenerative diseases. The decline can be seen over decades, years, months, or even weeks.

Some common examples of PNDs include Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Lewy Body Dementia, Lou Gerhig's Disease, Alzheimer's disease, Motor Neuron Disease, and Huntington's disease.

Early intervention for any neurodegenerative disease is critical to maintaining function for as long as possible. Restoration in early stages and maintenance throughout a disease progression can benefit your quality of life and reduce caregiver burden.

Neuromuscular Re-education

NMRE is used by neurocentric occupational therapists to improve communication between your muscular system and nervous system. By promoting this stream of communication, you close the circle of recovery. Without NMRE, you can have the biggest muscles in the world and still experience mobility deficits due to poor reaction time, coordination, and mixed signals.

Heavy Work

Heavy work is also known as resistance training and can utilize isometric and isotonic movements with or without external weights while focusing on eccentric and concentric muscle contractions. By partnering heavy work with visual perceptual tasks and neural recruitment visualization, increased carryover and recovery is experienced.

Neurodevelopmental Techniques (NDT)

NDT is a hands-on approach used by occupational therapists to provide deep pressure to key parts of your body during repeated movements. Your movement mixed with repetition and deep pressure creates and stores new motor patterns in your brain in order to re-establish mobility and speed up recovery.

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)

Cross Crawl Techniques

A cross-crawl technique is used in movement and mobility training of both upper body and lower body. By recruiting both sides of your brain using opposite movement patterns we strengthen the communication across the two sides of your brain known as your corpus collosum.

Neurocognitive Strategies

When combining neurcogitive skills and functions with motor elements, true cognitive rehabiliation can take place (memory, recall, sequencing, etc.). We include the domains of neurocognition like language, calculation, executive functioning, complex attention, perceptual-motor, and reasoning while training your body in order to increase neural plasticity and neural re-patterning.

Comprehensive Evaluation

Occupational therapists treat the entire person. Much like your primary care physician, we were required to learn elements of the entire body so that we could treat holistically (a one stop shop). Because of this, your outpatient rehabilitation specialist will perform an evaluation that assesses the following things:

Personal history
- Who are you? What do you do? What makes you tick? Why are you seeking outpatient therapy?
Physical function (upper body and lower body)
- Strength, range of motion, and flexibility
Neuromuscular function (brain to muscle communication)
- Coordination, speed, agility, and reaction time
Cognitive and Mind health
- Short term memory, recall, information processing, and perception of illness
Occupational Inventory (Activity and role inventory)
- Roles you play like a caregiver, spouse, parent, employee, etc.
- Mobility inventory like the places you need to go
- IADL inventory and what activities are required for you to be independent
- Other activities that are important to you