Dementia is a general term for a loss of ability to recall, think, or make judgments that interferes with everyday tasks. The most frequent kind of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. Dementia is not a normal part of aging, even though it usually affects older people. This is the reason why people might think that dementia is part of normal aging. In fact, many older adults live their entire lives without developing dementia.
Dementia is indeed something you never want to experience in your lifetime, but there are also signs of normal aging that might be commonly mistaken as early signs of dementia.
Here are 4 of them:
- Getting Irritated when One’s Normal Routine is Altered.
- It is normal to have days where you get easily irritated, especially when there are unexpected events that get in the way of your daily routines. For the most part, this is normal especially in older adults. This is not a sign of dementia. People with dementia get extremely agitated by a change in routine.
- Forgetting What to Say During Conversations, But Remembering Later.
- The inability to recall a memory for a short period of time is called Blocking. Memory blocks grow more prevalent as individuals become older, and they explain why elderly people have problems recalling other people’s names. On the contrary, stopping abruptly mid-conversation and never remembering what to say next might be a sign of dementia.
- Forgetting What Day It Is Occasionally, but Figuring It Out Later.
- Completely losing track of what day or season it is and forgetting where you are and how you got there are telltale signs of dementia but occasionally forgetting dates then remembering them later is just a normal part of aging.
- Taking Longer to Process Information
- Most individuals understand that processing information slows down as they become older. Many aged people have noted that addressing issues and making decisions takes them longer than it did when they were younger. However, the causes of this age-related slowdown in information processing are unknown and may differ from person to person. However, people with dementia find that they have trouble processing and verbalizing thoughts.
