Red flag early onset dementia symptoms to watch out – even in your 30s

Typically perceived as an older person’s ailment – dementia can also present warning signs in younger individuals.

Early onset dementia can unfold before someone turns 65. However, this disorder may actually commence earlier and worsen if symptoms go unnoticed. Presently, over 70,800 people in the UK live with young-onset dementia.

Dementia, in some uncommon circumstances, has been known to afflict people in their 30s. Data from Alzheimer’s Research UK suggests that the global count of people living with dementia may surge from approximately 57 million in 2019 to a staggering 153 million by 2050.

Far more than just memory loss, dementia encompasses a spectrum of challenges impairing an individual’s ability to manage everyday activities independently due to cognitive and memory difficulties, reports the Express. Rather than being a single disease, dementia manifests through a set of symptoms caused by brain damage resulting from diverse conditions, with Alzheimer’s disease as the leading culprit.

According to the charity: “The causes of Alzheimer’s disease are very complex, but one key part is the build-up of two substances inside the brain called amyloid and tau. When conditions in the brain aren’t right, these clump up and form tiny structures called plaques and tangles. These make it harder for the brain to work properly.”

There are important differences in how dementia affects younger people. These include the following:

• A wider range of diseases cause young-onset dementia.
• A younger person is much more likely to have a rarer form of dementia.
• Younger people with dementia are less likely to have memory loss as one of their first symptoms.
• Young-onset dementia is more likely to cause problems with movement, walking, co-ordination or balance.
• Young-onset dementia is more likely to be inherited (passed on through genes) – this affects up to 10% of younger people with dementia.
• Many younger people with dementia don’t have any other serious or long-term health conditions.

It’s not very common for health professionals to have a lot of experience in recognizing the symptoms of dementia in younger people, as it’s a relatively rare condition. It can be challenging to identify early symptoms as they may not be immediately obvious. They could easily be attributed to other factors like stress, relationship issues, work challenges, or even menopause.

It’s possible that early symptoms might not include memory loss, but could instead involve changes in behaviour, language, vision, or personality.

For most people with early-onset Alzheimer disease, the symptoms closely mirror those of other forms of Alzheimer disease. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, early symptoms can include:

• Forgetting important things, particularly newly learned information or important dates
• Asking for the same information again and again
• Trouble solving basic problems, such as keeping track of bills or following a favourite recipe
• Losing track of the date or time of year
• Losing track of where you are and how you got there
• Trouble with depth perception or other vision problems
• Trouble joining conversations or finding the right word for something
• Misplacing things and not being able to retrace your steps to find it
• Increasingly poor judgment
• Withdrawal from work and social situations
• Changes in mood and personality

Later symptoms could be:

• Severe mood swings and behaviour changes
• Deepening confusion about time, place, and life events
• Suspicions about friends, family, or caregivers
• Trouble speaking, swallowing, or walking
• Severe memory loss

Studies have also shown a connection between inflammation in your 20s and 30s and the beginning of cognitive decline in middle age.

Experts looked into increased levels of a substance called C-reactive protein (CRP) in the bloodstream, as reported by the American Academy of Neurology. CRP is created when there is inflammation. Signs of inflammation consist of joint pain, stiffness, digestive issues, and tiredness.

In the UK, individuals who are diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s can receive medication to help control symptoms. Unfortunately, there is no cure for dementia once it develops.

If you’re a young person trying to prevent the disease, there are ways to increase your odds of staying healthy. The Alzheimer’s Society recommends six daily steps to improve your overall well-being: exercising, eating healthily, avoid smoking, drink less alcohol and stay mentally and socially active.