Neglect of hygiene may signal a serious illness

Doctor warned about hidden signs of dementia that are easy to miss at an early stage.

As reported by TUT.AZ with reference to "Lenta.ru", general practitioner and chief physician of the "Medscan Golden Care" clinic Anastasia Goltsman revealed subtle symptoms by which the onset of dementia can be recognized even before obvious manifestations.

According to the expert, such non-obvious signs as a decrease in literacy in written and spoken language, loss of enthusiasm for previously favorite activities, unexpected manifestations of aggressiveness and the appearance of uncharacteristic profanity should cause particular alertness. The specialist notes that neglect of personal hygiene, when a person begins to avoid bathing, can also be an alarming sign.

A characteristic feature of dementia is the paradoxical phenomenon of memory: people have difficulty remembering recent events, but retain surprisingly clear memories of the distant past. Patients often cannot find everyday items, ignore cues from others, and lose the ability to navigate even in familiar surroundings. A kind of "system failure" occurs in memory – names of loved ones, important dates, and the sequence of events become confused.

Goltsman emphasizes that an important indicator of an impending problem is a decrease in productivity in familiar tasks: activities that were previously performed automatically now require significant effort, take more time, and cause increased fatigue.