We often think that it is normal for people to be forgetful as they get older, so we tend to leave out dementia. So what is the difference between normal forgetfulness and dementia in the elderly?
Forgetfulness is a sign of weakened brain function in the elderly, while dementia is a pathological decline in intelligence in the brain of the elderly. The following points can be referred to distinguish the two.
(1) Emotional changes: Amnesic elderly people have their own emotional reactions; while the emotions of demented elderly people are indifferent, becoming “indifferent” and insensitive to the world.
(2) Forgetfulness: Amnesic elderly people have partial forgetfulness of what they have done and can remember it after reminding; while dementia has complete forgetfulness and cannot remember what has just happened, and sometimes even mixes some people and things together wrongly.
(3) Ability to live: Although forgetful elderly people sometimes misremember time and events, and sometimes forget what they said in front of them, their ability to live is not significantly impaired, and they can still take care of their own lives and ordinary social interactions, and even take care of their family members to reduce their burden; whereas demented elderly people will gradually lose their ability to take care of themselves and social interactions as their condition worsens. They need the care of others and bring a heavy burden to their families.
(4) Cognitive ability: Although the forgetful elderly have reduced memory and cannot remember things, their cognitive ability of time, place, people and their surroundings are generally normal; while the demented elderly lose the ability to recognize their surroundings and themselves, for example, they cannot distinguish between morning and afternoon, do not know what season it is, do not know where they are, do not know their son or daughter, and sometimes even cannot find their way home. Sometimes they can’t even find their way home.
(5) Changes in thinking: forgetful elderly people are conscious of their memory decline, and generally show considerable distress, in order not to forget things, used to help their own memory, often bring a memo so as to remember at any time; while the elderly people with dementia are not aware of their own forgetfulness, so there is no trouble, let their memory is getting worse, thinking, reaction is getting slower, speech is getting poorer and poorer, to the words of others There is no corresponding response to the words of others. The richness, humor and versatility of language is one of the most important signs used to distinguish amnesia from dementia.
We know what Alzheimer’s disease is through the above cases, and we need to know what are the danger signs of Alzheimer’s disease?
See the case study
Case: Mrs. Li, an old revolutionary who could not return to her home
One day, a hospital in Xi’an brought in an old lady in her 80s, who was soaked to the skin, with her head in her hands, and her mind was already a bit unclear. When he got closer, it turned out to be a senior citizen crawling in his own field. The old man had been drenched in rain and his white hair was messily draped over his head, covering his face. The old man kept struggling and desperately tried to stand up, but the ground was too wet and the old man could not stand up. So the farmer’s friend rushed to the police, 110 arrived to see the old man’s condition is critical, urgent call 120 to send the old man to the hospital. Doctors and nurses acted urgently and fought every second to save the old man’s life. Later, after the doctor’s examination, it was realized that the old man was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. With the help of many people, the hospital found the old man’s son and daughter. The children learned that the old man had joined the revolution before the liberation and had made a great contribution to the revolution, and was now enjoying provincial-level treatment. The family was heartbroken and regretted that they did not care about the elderly and did not notice that they were suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, so they let them walk alone in front of their home. In order to avoid a similar tragedy for the next elderly person, it is important to know what are the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease. What are the danger signs of Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease always has a few warning signs at the beginning, but it is generally considered to be a disease of the elderly who are confused and do not take it seriously. If an elderly person has any of the following symptoms it means that it is time to have a systematic examination and to have a professional memory impairment test. Of course, if the following symptoms are present, it does not completely indicate that the elderly must have Alzheimer’s disease, but we just have to be alert and check if the elderly really have Alzheimer’s disease.
(1) Repeatedly asking the same questions over and over again, and still asking them repeatedly after giving an answer.
(2) Recounting the same things over and over again.
(3) Difficulty in handling familiar things, such as cooking, sewing or playing cards, which used to be done frequently, but now it is not done well and easily done wrong.
(4) Easily get lost in a familiar environment and often put things in inappropriate places.
(5) Often forgets to take a bath, or wears the same clothes for a long time, but says he has taken a bath, or says his clothes are clean.
(6) He used to be able to handle things by himself, like making any decision, answering some questions, how to manage his finances, etc., but at this time he cannot handle them by himself and has to depend on others, like his object, etc.
(7) Emotional performance is unstable, and their behavior seems abnormal compared to before.
Alzheimer’s disease is a quiet disease without obvious symptoms such as redness, swelling, heat, pain, etc. Many patients mistake it as normal aging and do not give attention to it, so that the consultation rate is very low, which often makes patients miss the opportunity of effective treatment. Therefore, we must pay attention to the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. So what are the early manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease?