Dementia is only expected to become more common in this country; recent research predicts 42% of American adults over 55 will have dementia in their lifetime.<\/p>\n
By understanding the signs of the disease and getting an early diagnosis, individuals and caretakers can better plan and prepare for the future, and potentially make decisions about care and treatment.<\/p>\n
Early diagnosis can also help folks potentially get access to treatments that can help slow the progression of certain forms of dementia, experts told HuffPost. (Dementia is an umbrella term that describes multiple forms of cognitive impairment, with Alzheimer\u2019s disease being the most common type.)<\/p>\n
The early signs of dementia are important to know but can \u201crun the gamut,\u201d said Dr. Stephanie Nothelle<\/a>, a geriatrician and an associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, but there tend to be a few that often present first. <\/p>\n 1. Short-term memory loss.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI think the thing that people often think about is short-term memory loss, and that really is common,\u201d Nothelle said.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the same thing as momentarily forgetting the word you want to use or a one-off absentminded moment, like forgetting to grab your hat before going out for a walk.<\/p>\n Instead, it\u2019s something like \u201chaving a conversation with someone and then a couple hours later, not remembering the details of that conversation,\u201d explained Nothelle.<\/p>\n Dr. Jori Fleisher<\/a>, an associate professor of neurological sciences at Rush University in Chicago, said that it\u2019s also common for folks with short-term memory loss to repeat themselves in conversations and ask \u201cthe same questions frequently.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA hard time holding on to things that they\u2019ve learned recently. That\u2019s a short-term memory issue,\u201d Fleisher said.<\/p>\n According to Day, there are some real-world, practical issues he tends to look for as potential memory red flags.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m looking for people who have made mistakes, maybe with medications, where they wouldn\u2019t have before [such as forgetting to take it or taking a double dose], perhaps some difficulty keeping track of appointments and keeping the days straight, needing more reminders for that,\u201d Day said.<\/p>\n This short-term memory loss could also look like missing appointments or showing up on the wrong day or having difficulty finding their way along a familiar route, Day added.<\/p>\n Some people are naturally more forgetful than others and have been that way all of their lives. That\u2019s not worrisome. Instead, Day is concerned with \u201cchanges from before that are consistent or starting to become consistent, that are beginning to interfere with daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Trouble with the \u2018planning part of your brain.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s also common for people to experience trouble with \u201cexecutive functioning,\u201d which Nothelle describes as the \u201cplanning part of your brain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, if you have a complex task, [for example] you have to plan a dinner party and you\u2019re having a hard time doing everything involved … there\u2019s all these little logistics and things to keep track of when planning something like a dinner party,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n You may have to remember your guest\u2019s dietary restrictions, plan out a menu, shop for ingredients, cook, arrange serving dishes, clean, make cocktails and choose a playlist.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re not able to do that anymore, that can be a sign that there\u2019s something going on,\u201d Nothelle said.<\/p>\n 3. Personality changes.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAnother way that I have seen it manifest is people will have changes in their mood or their personality,\u201d Nothelle said.<\/p>\n Maybe a loved one who used to be very outgoing is now more shy or vice versa. Or maybe someone is more apathetic or, perhaps, more impulsive than they used to be. This isn\u2019t normal aging or an older person just not having a filter.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are all just reflections of subtle changes in the brain,\u201d Nothelle noted.<\/p>\n 4. Consistent trouble finding the right word.<\/strong><\/p>\n A common complaint and reason people seek medical attention is word-finding difficulty, Day said. \u201cOccasional difficulty coming up with a name, fine,\u201d said Day. It\u2019s also normal to sometimes forget the name of a common object, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it\u2019s inconsistent, not a concern, but when this is an everyday thing and maybe even when it\u2019s interrupting conversation, now that\u2019s a sign of much more prominent word-finding difficulty that would warrant evaluation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n 5. Susceptibility to financial scams.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSomething that we need to be really, really aware of, and unfortunately just gets more and more common, is susceptibility to financial scams,\u201d said Fleisher.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients with dementia are at increased risk, and scammers know that, so they tend to prey on older individuals in the middle of the afternoon,\u201d added Day.<\/p>\n There is shame involved with falling for a scam, but scammers are getting smarter and sneakier, making it easier and easier to fall for the trick, noted Fleisher.<\/p>\n But, if you have a loved one who falls for one of these scams, it\u2019s worth inquiring about their cognitive state.<\/p>\n Dementia is common, but there are things you can do to reduce your risk or slow the progression of the disease.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"While](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/6930b0ed190000f8086a0e91.jpeg\")
While dementia can present in many different ways, short-term memory loss and personality changes are among the early signs of the disease.<\/p>\n