Bizarre Warning Signs of Dementia Revealed as Bruce Willis' Wife Shares Tragic Update on His Diagnosis
Key Highlights :
Long Article: It is a cruel disease that blights the lives of millions of people across the world. Yet charities claim not enough is being done to teach the public about the early warning signs of dementia. After Hollywood actor Bruce Willis was diagnosed with the incurable disease earlier this year, MailOnline shares some of the stranger early symptoms that can occur.
What is frontotemporal dementia?
The 68-year-old Die Hard star has frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which can affect behaviour and language. It's one of the least common forms of dementia, accounting for just 2 per cent of diagnoses. Alzheimer's is the most widespread type of dementia — making up three in four cases. FTD tends to strike earlier than other forms — like Alzheimer's.
Changes in humour and swearing more are all signs of Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) — a type of dementia that causes problems with behaviour and language. According to experts bad parking, and dressing scruffy are also signs of the memory-robbing disease.
Giving out money
Giving out cash to strangers could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's. That is according to research by USC and Bar-Ilan University in Israel, which linked financial altruism to the first stages of the disease. The study tested the theory on 67 adults around the age of 70. The participants were put in pairs with people they had never met, and were given $10 (£8) to distribute between themselves and the other. Neurological tests were given to the participants to judge their cognitive state and their potential risk of developing Alzheimer's.
The results, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, suggested those who were at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's were also more willing to hand out money to the person they had never met. Dr Duke Han, a neuropsychology professor at USC who led the research, said: 'Trouble handling money is thought to be one of the early signs of Alzheimer's disease, and this finding supports that notion.'
What is Alzheimer's?
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, in which build-up of abnormal proteins causes nerve cells to die. This disrupts the transmitters that carry messages, and causes the brain to shrink. More than 5 million people suffer from the disease in the US, where it is the 6th leading cause of death, and more than 1 million Britons have it.
WHAT HAPPENS?
As brain cells die, the functions they provide are lost. That includes memory, orientation and the ability to think and reason. The progress of the disease is slow and gradual. On average, patients live five to seven years after diagnosis, but some may live for ten to 15 years.
EARLY SYMPTOMS:
Loss of short-term memory
Disorientation
Behavioral changes
Mood swings
Difficulties dealing with money or making a phone call
LATER SYMPTOMS:
Severe memory loss, forgetting close family members, familiar objects or places
Becoming anxious and frustrated over inability to make sense of the world, leading to aggressive behavior
Eventually lose ability to walk
May have problems eating
The majority will eventually need 24-hour care
Changes to humour
Starting to watch slapstick comedy classics like Airplane and Mr Bean could be another sign of Alzheimer's. Researchers at University College London found people who had the disease were more likely to enjoy watching slapstick, absurdist or satirical comedy compared to other people of the same age.
A questionnaire was given to friends and relatives of 48 people with Alzheimer's and FTD. They were asked about their loved one's preferences for different types of comedy and whether their taste had shifted over the past 15 years. Researchers asked if they were a fan of slapstick comedy such as Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean, satirical comedy such as South Park or absurdist comedy like The Mighty Boosh.
Family and friends were also asked if they had noticed any inappropriate humour in recent years. According to the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease in 2015, people with the disease start to prefer slapstick jokes nine years before typical dementia symptoms begin to show. It also found people with FTD were more likely to find tragic events funny, or laugh at things others would not find funny like a badly parked car or barking dog.
These changes in humour in could be caused by the brain shrinking in the frontal lobe, researchers say.
Dressing scruffy
Making fashion disasters, struggling to piece together clothes that match and wearing things that are not weather-appropriate could be another sign of Alzheimer's. Researchers at the universities of Kent and York described how people suffering with dementia were less likely to be able to dress themselves when left to their own devices.
The study, published in Sociology of Health and Illness in 2018, focused on 32 people in three care homes and 15 regular home sin Kent. Researchers interviewed 28 care homes staff, 29 family carers and relatives to find out how you should dress people suffering with dementia.
Melissa, a family carer who was quoted in the study, said: 'I've never seen my dad scruffy. Never. Until that day I turned up in the home and he's sitting there in screwed up clothes which really hurt me because I'm not used to that – not at all.'
Carers also said it was difficult
