Dementia in young adults: what are the symptoms and how to identify them

The ace dementias They are usually associated with the elderly. Yet, in the world, there are 3.9 million people under 65 who have these disorders that affect the memoryhe thought and social skills and which can interfere with daily life.

An analysis of 74 studies conducted in the Netherlands indicates that worldwide up to 3.9 million people under the age of 65 could be affected. The results of the analysis published by the journal JAMA Neurologyfound that out of 100,000 people between the ages of 30 and 64, 119 suffered from dementia praecox.

One of these disorders is frontotemporal dementia, like the one diagnosed with American actor Bruce Willis. In this case, dementia is caused by a set of disorders that progressively damage the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. brain. It generally tends to occur at a younger age than other dementias.

About 60% of people with frontotemporal dementia are between the ages of 45 and 64. There are also other types of dementia that can affect people under the age of 65.

In the United States, while most of the 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia are over the age of 65, about 200,000 are under 65 and develop disorders cognitive and memory much sooner than expected.

“There dementia praecox it’s a very disheartening diagnosis because it affects people who are in their prime of life,” wrote David S. Knopman, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in a journal editorial. JAMA Neurology.

Knopman called dementia in young people an “underappreciated problem”: it is often diagnosed late and “little is also known” about its management in terms of patient care.

Many people with dementia are in their 40s or 50s. They may be in the middle of their career path or have no thoughts of retiring.

One of the challenges is diagnose dementia in young adults. Many doctors do not identify it or even suspect that it may be the underlying cause of certain symptoms. Also, when the diagnosis is agreed, it can be difficult for your family and loved ones to accept.

It is very common for young patients to complain of power outages = blackout. These gaps are usually benign. But diagnosing dementias becomes difficult when the deficiencies can also be attributed to stress, depression or anxiety, or they can be the result of normal aging.

In the Dutch study published in JAMA Neurology Alzheimer’s disease is generally considered the most common cause of early dementia. But when symptoms appeared before age 50, early Alzheimer’s disease was a less likely explanation than two other causes: vascular dementia and frontotemporal dementia.

When Alzheimer’s disease affects younger adults, it may be an inherited form of the disease. But these cases represent less than 10% of cases of early dementia. Although genetic factors can increase the risk, most cases of Alzheimer’s occur sporadically and for unknown reasons.

Another form of dementia in people under 65 can be vascular dementia. It is the result of a blockage or deterioration of blood vessels in the brain which impedes circulation and does not allow the brain to obtain necessary oxygen and nutrients.

In addition to memory problems, its most common symptoms are confusionthere hard to concentrate and for organizing ideas or tasks and slower reasoning.

In frontotemporal dementia, the parts of the brain behind the forehead and the ears shrink. These alterations cause drastic changes in personality, socially inappropriate or impulsive behavior, and emotional indifference. Motor and memory problems usually develop later in the course of the disease.

According to the Mayo Clinic, frontotemporal dementia almost always begins between the ages of 40 and 65 and can be misdiagnosed as a psychiatric condition.

There Dementia with Lewy bodies it is another cause of dementia in young adults. It is associated with abnormal deposits of a protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain which affect brain chemistry and cause motor, cognitive and behavioral problems.

Most symptoms are similar to those seen in other types of dementia. People can also have hallucinations that can be mistaken for the diagnosis of schizophrenia, but deterioration in brain function comes on much faster. Knopman commented that a symptom of Lewy body dementia is the presence of violent dreams and the attempt to act them out.

One measure to prevent dementia is to avoid head injuries.. The Alzheimer International organization recommends care to avoid head trauma. “To protect your brain, wear a seat belt, wear a helmet when playing sports, and make your home drop-proof,” he suggested.

Dr. Knopman mentioned that people who play professional football or boxing have a much higher risk of developing dementia at an early age due to constant beatings to the head.

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