Dementia patients are wrongly told 'it's just a mid-life crisis' because doctors miss tell-tale signs of symptoms
- Thousands have types of dementia that have wide-range of symptoms
- Traits, other than those associated with Alzheimer's, are being missed
- Changes in personality and a loss of motivation can be warning signs
- Some patients can take years before doctor realised and diagnose them
Middle-aged dementia patients are wrongly being told they are going through a mid-life crisis or marital problems by doctors who are failing to recognise symptoms, experts have warned.
Tens of thousands of patients have types of dementia that present different symptoms than those associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of the condition.
Jonathan Rohrer, a specialist in frontotemporal dementia at University College London, claimed that doctors were ‘stuck on the idea’ that memory loss was the main symptom of dementia and were missing other tell-tale signs.
Tens of thousands of patients have types of dementia that present different symptoms than those associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of the condition
Changes in personality and a loss of motivation can be warning signs of some forms of the disease – but some patients can take years to be diagnosed.
Dr Rohrer said: ‘There are quite funny symptoms that people by and large don’t think of as dementia and therefore don’t think that could be the problem.’
He added that one lesser known symptom was developing a sweet tooth – and recalled the case of a man who quit his job as an accountant to work in a sweet factory, only to be fired for eating the products.
‘When your problem is a change in behaviour like losing motivation, a lot of people get diagnosed with depression,’ Dr Rohrer said.
Studies show those with frontotemporal dementia can wait up to five years for a diagnosis – two years longer than those with more common types. The problem is most prevalent among middle-aged people. Dr Rohrer said: ‘We see a lot of people who are simply told it’s a problem in their marriage.
‘People become more irritable, saying rude things that are socially unacceptable, as one of the symptoms is loss of empathy towards loved ones.
'People tend to go to the GP and say, “My partner’s not right’ and GPs say, “It’s just mid-life” or “You’re not getting on any more.”
‘Outside specialist care, people have this old-fashioned attitude of memory being the key symptom.’
Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘People can still slip through the net.’ Studies have suggested a warped sense of humour could also be an early warning sign of dementia.
University College London researchers found sufferers of some forms had a change in humour almost a decade before they were diagnosed, with many finding comedy that requires complex thought – such as satire – less funny than they had before.
Frontotemporal dementia is estimated to affect around 16,000 Britons. It tends to involve parts of the brain responsible for language and the ability to plan, and are important in controlling behaviour.
Up to 40 per cent of patients with frontotemporal dementia have a family history of the condition.
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