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   Dementia: What are the early warning signs and symptoms?   
      
   By Carmen Chai   
   Health Reporter	    
   Global News   
       
       
      
      
   WATCH ABOVE: Global National anchor, Dawna Friesen, opens up about her family   
   and its battle with dementia in a special presentation for 16×9.   
      
   TORONTO -- With more than 30 years of working as a registered nurse, Barbara   
   Crawford frequently saw the quick decline dementia patients faced.   
      
   The now 66-year-old retired nurse from Owen Sound, Ont. knew something was   
   wrong years before she was diagnosed herself with vascular dementia in 2012.   
      
   Story continues below   
      
   Global News   
   READ MORE: Inside the world of dementia, as a painful reality sets in   
      
   It started with having trouble remembering things: her house keys or daily   
   tasks at work and around the home. But then it became scary -- losing her   
   bearings and where she was going while driving in her car or paying up at the   
   grocery store and    
   forgetting what different dollar bills looked like.   
      
   "It's panic -- the first thing you feel is panic, especially being lost. It   
   just leaves you kind of stunned, it's scary," Crawford explained.   
      
   How many Canadians have dementia?   
      
   According to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, some 747,000 people are living   
   with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias - the number is projected to rise   
   to 1.4 million by 2031.   
      
   Seventy-four per cent of us know someone with dementia, the organization says.   
      
   READ MORE: Half of Canadians with dementia wait too long for diagnosis,   
   Alzheimer Society warns   
      
   If dementia care were a country, it would be the world's 18th largest economy,   
   ranking between Turkey and Indonesia, according to Alzheimer Disease   
   International.   
      
   The annual cost of dementia will increase from $33 billion today, to $293   
   billion by 2040.   
      
   Alzheimer's disease is the leading form of dementia, accounting for over   
   two-thirds of all dementia cases in Canada today.   
      
   READ MORE: Blog - Dealing with dementia in your family   
      
   Changes in the brain that lead to dementia can begin up to 25 years before   
   symptoms begin, the Canadian group says. Women account for about 72 per cent   
   of the country's cases of Alzheimer's.   
      
   Age remains the biggest factor for dementia; the risk doubles every five years   
   after 65.   
      
   The causes of dementia are not fully understood and there's still no cure.   
   That's why health officials urge patients and family members to look out for   
   signs of the onset of the disease.   
      
   READ MORE: 'Woefully unprepared' for world dementia epidemic, report warns   
      
   What are the symptoms and warning signs of dementia?   
      
   As many as 50 per cent of Canadians with dementia are not diagnosed early   
   enough, losing valuable time when intervention can help these people with   
   managing their daily lives.   
      
   READ MORE: Alzheimer's most costly malady in US topping cancer, heart disease   
      
   The Alzheimer Society documents a list of 10 signs to watch for:   
      
   Memory loss affecting day-to-day abilities - forgetting things often or   
   struggling to retain new information.   
   Difficulty performing familiar tasks - forgetting how to do something you've   
   been doing your whole life, such as preparing a meal or getting dressed.   
   Problems with language - forgetting words or substituting words that don't fit   
   the context.   
   Disorientation in time and space - not knowing what day of the week it is or   
   getting lost in a familiar place.   
   Impaired judgment - not recognizing a medical problem that needs attention or   
   wearing light clothing on a cold day.   
   Problems with abstract thinking - not understanding what numbers signify on a   
   calculator, for example, or how they're used.   
   Misplacing things - putting things in strange places, like an iron in the   
   freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl.   
   Changes in mood and behaviour- exhibiting severe mood swings from being   
   easy-going to quick-tempered.   
   Changes in personality - behaving out of character such as feeling paranoid or   
   threatened.   
   Loss of initiative - losing interest in friends, family and favourite   
   activities.   
   READ MORE: As dementia sets in, artists still recall drawing from memory   
      
   dementia info graphic   
      
   Why get diagnosed early?   
      
   "Early diagnosis helps the person and family member plan for the future. They   
   can have a discussion with their physician and they know what they may expect   
   and plan more effectively," Mimi Lowi-Young, CEO of the society, told Global   
   News.   
      
   The problem is that dementia is still marred by stigma, she said. There's fear   
   of the disease, patients may be hesitant to disclose loss of judgement or   
   bouts of forgetfulness and doctors may not be looking for the signs.   
      
   Early diagnosis would help patients get the support they need, through keeping   
   them socially and physically active and with medical intervention.   
      
   For Crawford, the diagnosis gave her "peace of mind" that something was   
   legitimately wrong. She was offered medication to help with her memory, she   
   joined with others facing dementia and she sought the advice of the Alzheimer   
   Society.   
      
   And even with her diagnosis, Crawford has her autonomy -- while her daughter   
   lives close by, she lives on her own and found solutions for day-to-day issues   
   that once plagued her.   
      
   "To me it's everything," Crawford says of being self-sufficient.   
      
   She keeps a hook by the door to hang onto her house keys, she knows to log   
   future appointments and other meetings in a daily planner and she labels her   
   stove for safe cooking. She also wears a necklace around her neck in case of   
   falls or any other    
   accidents.   
      
   - With files from Francesca Fionda   
      
      
      
   http://globalnews.ca/news/1288637/dementia-what-are-the-early-wa   
   ning-signs-and-symptoms/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)