Older people often laugh at themselves as “old and confused”, forget what they have just done in a blink of an eye, and “upside down” when communicating with others and can’t explain clearly… It is recommended that the elderly and their families should pay attention to these situations. It may be related to “Alzheimer’s disease” (commonly known as Alzheimer’s disease).
The manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease are varied, the most common is the decline of memory, learning and memory and learning ability, as well as the decline of language ability, abnormal behavior and abnormal emotional response. Some elderly people will have auditory hallucinations and visual hallucinations in the early stage of the disease, while some only appear in the middle and late stages.
What are the unusual manifestations of dementia?
There is one case where it doesn’t count. For example, some patients with late stage dementia are unhappy when others give them a 100 yuan bill, but they are very happy when they give him ten 1 cents or 1 yuan. This is because he has no concept of the amount of money, but he knows that more is more. Another abnormal behavior is like to hide things. For example, some elderly people have very good family conditions, but they often go out to pick up rubbish and enjoy picking up rubbish. After examination, they are found to have moderate dementia. In addition, some elderly people will also experience great changes in their living habits from the past. Therefore, if the elderly are found to exhibit similar abnormal behaviors, people around them must pay more attention.
What other manifestations indicate a possible risk of dementia?
The elderly have memory loss; language ability declines, and they are unwilling to communicate with others; or sleep disorders and abnormal sleep behavior; executive function declines, and their ability to accept emerging things is particularly poor; withdrawn, black and white are reversed, and childish behaviors, such as grabbing food from children, or suddenly becoming very generous to outsiders and stingy towards their own people. Elderly people with these phenomena are advised to pay special attention to their families and consult professional institutions to see if there is a possibility of Alzheimer’s disease.
All in all, Alzheimer’s is a common disease. We pay attention to the lives of the elderly, not only their physical condition, but also their behaviors, emotions, and whether there are sudden changes in their lifestyles. Early detection and early treatment can minimize the adverse effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
Expert: Jin Xianglan, Chief Physician of the Second Department of Encephalopathy, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Source: People’s Daily Online – Popular Science China