From: drarwingnuttephd@gmail.com   
      
   Dementia hits thousands in their 30s, 40s and 50s - but is written off as the   
   menopause, stress or depression   
      
   Karen Lewis, 51, a mother-of-three, has had dementia for at least ten years   
   In her early 40s she was told nerve damage was making her drop things   
   In her late 40s, she was told the menopause was causing her depression   
   She was only diagnosed with Alzheimer's after a memory test this year   
   Some believe 100,000 people in their 30s, 40s and 50s may have dementia   
   By LUCY ELKINS FOR THE DAILY MAIL   
      
   PUBLISHED: 17:27 EST, 27 October 2014 | UPDATED: 02:20 EST, 28 October 2014   
      
           
      
   Karen Lewis, 51, has early onset dementia. She has had symptoms since her late   
   30's   
      
   Mum-of-three Karen Lewis is used to the reaction she gets when she tells   
   people she has dementia. 'They normally say: 'But you don't look old enough.'   
   I just shrug because I didn't think I was old enough either.'   
      
   Karen, who was diagnosed in January this year, just days after her 51st   
   birthday, has, in fact, had the condition for at least ten years - yet during   
   this time her symptoms were repeatedly put down to other ailments.   
      
   In her early 40s, when she started dropping objects a lot, she was told by a   
   doctor that she had nerve damage in her arm and was given a splint. In her   
   late 40s, when she felt uncharacteristically depressed, she was told by   
   another doctor that she was    
   going through the menopause.   
      
   And last year, when she was struggling to concentrate at work, she was told by   
   a nurse that she was suffering from stress.   
      
   It was only this year, when Karen was given a memory test, that the true cause   
   of all of her problems was revealed: she had Alzheimer's disease - the most   
   common form of dementia.   
      
   'When the doctor told me, my partner Jason was with me and we couldn't speak   
   for a few minutes,' says Karen, who until recently worked dispensing medicines   
   in a chemist. 'We were both so shocked - I felt as if I'd been hit sideways.   
   My first thought was    
   about my children - my sons David and Sam are 21 and 27, but my daughter Amy   
   is only 16. How long had I got before I stopped remembering who they were?   
   Would I get the chance to enjoy watching them have children?   
      
   'The doctor couldn't tell me. Hopefully it will be years.'   
      
   There are believed to be nearly 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK.   
   Yet while it tends to be thought of as an elderly person's disease, a recent   
   report from The Alzheimer's Society warns that far more people under the age   
   of 65 have the    
   condition than was previously thought.   
      
   In fact, some experts believe as many as 100,000 people in their 30s, 40s and   
   50s may have dementia.   
      
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   Hilda Hayo, a consultant dementia nurse and chief executive of the charity   
   Dementia UK, says: 'The previous estimate of 16,000 cases didn't take into   
   account the people who hadn't been for help or who hadn't been diagnosed.   
      
   'Far more people are now being diagnosed and more forms of dementia have now   
   been identified, so the true figure is likely to be four or five times as high   
   as that.'   
      
   Here, we examine the issues surrounding dementia in the under-65s, and the   
   symptoms to look for.   
      
   In her early 40s, when she started dropping objects a lot, she was told by a   
   doctor that she had nerve damage in her arm   
   In her early 40s, when she started dropping objects a lot, she was told by a   
   doctor that she had nerve damage in her arm   
      
   BAD MOODS CAN BE AN EARLY SIGN   
      
   Dementia is an umbrella term for a group of diseases that cause damage to the   
   brain, leading to progressive difficulties with memory, language and   
   problem-solving.   
      
   It can manifest itself in trouble concentrating, an uncharacteristically quick   
   temper or memory issues.   
      
   Like Karen, patients are often told that they are suffering with stress before   
   they finally receive a correct diagnosis.   
      
   Some sufferers might also have 'praxia' - difficulties in coordinating   
   movement. They might find, for example, that they have problems putting on a   
   jacket or using a toothbrush, or that they often drop things, as Karen did.   
   They might also have problems    
   with spatial awareness and get lost when driving, for example.   
      
   Praxia doesn't occur with all forms of dementia - there are around 100   
   different types - but it can be an early sign of certain forms, such as   
   Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common.   
      
   This type is caused by the build-up of a protein called amyloid, which forms   
   as tangles or plaques around brain cells, ultimately destroying them.   
      
   HOW GPs MISS IT   
      
   Diagnosing dementia is never an exact science but it is often picked up later   
   in the under-65s, as it is usually the last thing a GP suspects in a younger   
   person.   
      
   'People with early-onset dementia or their partners tend to go back and forth   
   to their GP many times before they get diagnosed,' says Ms Hayo. 'Someone of   
   80 or older will wait on average one to two years after first showing symptoms   
   before being    
   diagnosed, but a person under 65 waits four to five years.'   
      
   Dementia affects younger and older people in the same way - but while the vast   
   majority of elderly sufferers have Alzheimer's disease, younger people are   
   more likely to have another form.   
      
   416,000    
      
   The estimated number of undiagnosed dementia sufferers in England alone   
      
   'Alzheimer's is still one of the most common types in under-65s, but we also   
   see others,' says Dr Richard Perry, a neurologist who runs a memory clinic at   
   Charing Cross Hospital, London.   
      
      
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