Do you forget your keys, mobile phone and names of people too often? Could it be a sign of dementia?

Dementia is not about selective forgetfulness it is brain deterioration as a whole.

By: Debjani Arora | | Published: August 3, 2018 4:36 pm

People, who have a forgetful nature, often casually say that they are suffering from early-onset dementia. As memory loss is associated with dementia. But dementia is not only about memory loss it is a group of condition clustered together. Moreover, dementia is triggered due to other illnesses of the brain like the Alzheimer’s disease which is a chronic progressive degenerative disorder of the brain. In dementia apart from memory loss a person affected might also suffer from changes in behaviour, cognitive decline leading to confusion and disorientation, delusions and hallucinations, difficulty in communicating, problems in judging speeds and distances, etc. No two people with dementia will suffer from the same problems. But there is no denying that memory loss is closely associated with dementia.

So, we spoke to Dr Sanghanayak Meshram, psychiatrist and sexologist, Mumbai to understand more about the condition. According to him, normal forgetfulness isn’t a sign of dementia. “We forget things often, like the car keys, mobile phones even names of important people. But these things don’t indicate that one is suffering from dementia or even early-onset dementia. It could just be about a careless attitude which is a personality trait in many. Remember dementia is not about selective forgetfulness. So if you are forgetting names all the time and misplace your cell phone but remember what you ate and can take care of yourself without being a mess, you probably are not suffering from dementia,” says Dr Meshram.

In dementia, the brain functions start to deteriorate as a whole. “It starts with forgetting names and things and then becoming confused with directions. Soon it progresses to forgetting what one did just the previous moment. In dementia, the brain fails to register the recent memory or make new neural pathways to store them. In fact, people who suffer from this condition might remember things that have happened 30 years ago but fail to recollect if they had their meals. Often, they don’t recognise their family members, home and friends. Their memory makes them believe that they are living in an era that is dated back three decades. This is why, most elderly, who suffer from this condition, run away from their homes, in search of their old abode and are often found confused and lost at crossroads. But if you are someone who forgets keys, names and phones at odd places but are able to recall your family members, dress appropriately and remember if you had a meal or not then rest assured it is not dementia,” says Dr Meshram.

But we wonder if this forgetfulness can be a cause or a sign that you might suffer from dementia later in life? “Whether or not you are going to suffer from memory loss or forgetfulness at old age is difficult to predict. However, there are certain risk factors that can make one susceptible to dementia family history, blood pressure, diabetes, alcoholism, certain nutritional deficiencies are some of them,” says Dr Meshram. However, if your forgetful nature is making you worried get checked with a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist for further evaluation.

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Published : August 3, 2018 4:36 pm

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