Understanding and Diagnosing Dementia, When to Seek Medical Advice

Most people come across memory loss while aging. Is it a natural aging process? Taiwanese physician Chien Cheng-Ping , Deputy Superintendent of Taipei Beitou Health Management Hospital, stated that dementia is a brain disease rather than a natural aging phenomenon. He reminded the public to be alert to 10 signs of dementia. If several of them appear simultaneously, medical advice should be sought.

Mr. Chien listed an example. Ms. Chen, a retired 68-year-old woman, always strolls near her granddaughter’s home, and they chat at dusk. Her granddaughter recently noticed Ms. Chen was losing memory easily and was unbalanced when walking. She even falls over occasionally while walking. Ms. Chen thought memory loss was due to her aging process, not related to any disease. Her awareness and judgment are still sharp.

Her children took her to have a body check at the hospital. Through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), white spots were found in the grey matter of her brain, and the hippocampus was shrunken, leaving more space at the periphery of the brain. She was diagnosed with early-stage of dementia.

Mr. Chien reminded us that medical treatment can control the initial stage of dementia. Early detection and treatment can prevent the disease from deteriorating. The early stage of the disease may show any of 10 signs of alert. Once several of them appear at the same time, one should be cautious and seek medical advice promptly.

1. Memory loss impacts daily life.
2. Difficulties with planning or problem-solving.
3. Difficulties in the completion of familiar tasks for daily life.
4. Doubts on scheduled times or venues.
5. Difficulties in comprehension of visual imaging and spatial relationship.
6. Difficulties in conversation or writing words that were never a problem before.
7. Putting things in the wrong place and loss of daily item retrieval ability.
8. Weak or deteriorated judgment.
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities.
10. Alterations on temperament and emotion.

Cheng-Ping Chien mentioned that dementia can be generally categorized into two types, degenerative and vascular disease. Some patients would suffer from two types or more of dementia simultaneously. Alzheimer’s disease is an example of a nerve degenerative type, while vascular dementia is caused by stroke or thromboembolism in the brain. So far, medication cannot cure dementia, but it has an effect of controlling the disease invasion. He suggested both early detection and treatment for the disease, followed by medical help if needed.

Cheng-Ping Chien recommended keeping the patient in a good mood, not smoking, avoidance of cranial injury, controlling the “three highs” (hypertension, high blood glucose, and high lipids), and regular exercise. He also suggested that those of old age with a family history of dementia, diabetes, or cranial injury should have regular medical check-ups. Abnormal accumulation of amyloids or shrunken structures (especially the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory) of the brain can be detected by means of MRI.

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David Chu is a London-based journalist who has been working in the financial sector for almost 30 years in major cities in China and abroad, including South Korea, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries. He was born in a family specializing in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has a background in ancient Chinese literature.