Dementia is dangerous because its first signs are often overlooked due to the lack of obvious signs and the problems being attributed to old age. In order not to miss the onset of the disease, you can independently test your cognitive abilities after 40 years using a clock test. Kirill Proshchaev, geriatrician, Doctor of Medical Sciences, specialist of the Dementia.net social project, told socialbites.ca.
“On a piece of paper, you need to draw a round clock with numbers on the dial and direct the arrows to any predetermined time. “If the test is performed incorrectly, that is, an error lasting more than five minutes, it is necessary to consult a general practitioner, general practitioner or memory clinic,” he said.
Performance on this test is impaired in frontal type dementia, Alzheimer’s dementia, and dementia in which subcortical structures are predominantly damaged. Additionally, other symptoms may indicate the onset of dementia, according to Proshchaev.
“We must not forget that not even a single oddity or behavioral trait that appears in a person in old age should be attributed to old age. For example, changes may occur in hygiene and personal care (the person was clean – became sloppy) or in character (the person was open – became closed), habits that are difficult to explain may appear (an unmotivated increase in the number or time of walks) or new suspicious contacts that a person tries to hide, a the person may suddenly lose some habitual skills (household chores or professionalism). Proshchaev stated that attention should be paid to all this.
According to the doctor, all these symptoms are warning signs and require a cognitive health check.
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