5 signs of dementia that you will feel first, say the doctors
Your nose can provide a warning for cognitive decline.
With so many different types of dementia, symptoms may vary from person to person. The first sign of problem could be difficult with Daily tasks like driving to An increase in financial problems . The wide range of potential precursors for dementia often makes it difficult to determine a diagnosis, but part of the body can provide a certain foresight in the future: your nose.
Dung Trinh , MD, specialist in internal medicine and Founder of the Brain Healthy clinic , recount Better life That when it comes to dementia, our smell could be one of the first affected things. "Knowing what to look for with regard to odor changes can provide important clues that can be useful for diagnosing dementia," he explains. Read the rest for five signs of dementia that Trinh and other experts say that your nose could detect first.
Read this then: Scientists have just found a surprising link between grocery store and dementia .
1 You cannot recognize familiar smells.
If the smell of crisp apple structures is also one of your favorite things, you may have trouble recognizing it in the years preceding a dementia diagnosis. A change in the memory of your smell is a common symptom of cognitive diseases, according to Trinh. This can manifest as "the difficulty in recognizing familiar smells, like not being able to remember the smell of a favorite dish or perfume", he explains. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
Consequently, the perfumes can be distorted, which makes you perceive familiar "as different or unknown", says Danny Dorsey , a mental health expert And the founder of the Everlast Recovery Center health treatment center. You could also develop an "inability to feel common perfumes like peppermint and orange", adds Manisha Parulekar , MD, the Head of Division for Geriatrics At Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.
2 You notice a change in intensity of certain odors.
The intensity of certain odors can also change as a result of dementia, according to Trinh. You may notice that the smell of particular odors seem "too strong or too weak," he says.
Dorsey adds that you could also develop an increased smell overall, which is known as hyperosmia. "This can make odors overwhelming and unpleasant unbearable," he explains, noting that this could lead you to live "a sensitive increased to certain odors, such as perfumes or cleaning products".
3 You can no longer distinguish between different odors.
Another precursor of a dementia diagnosis could be a "poor identification of odors", according to Parulekar. Indeed, the cognitive decline can make you lose "the ability to distinguish one perfume from another," she explains.
Trinh refers to this as a change in the identification of the smell ". In other words, you may notice that you are starting to feel" difficulties in identifying odors, such as the distinction between certain perfumes, or the Differentiation between a pleasant and unpleasant odor ".
4 You feel things that are not there.
Dementia can distort your smell, which makes perfumes that you have appreciated once now terrible, but this is not the only change you might feel.
According to Trinh, you can also develop an "fragrant hallucination", known as the fantosmia. This means that you "feel the unpleasant odors that are not present, such as foul smells or burning smells". These hallucinations "almost still consists of unpleasant odors [Like] rotten fish or eggs, essence, [or] excrement ", according to direct science.
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5 You can no longer feel anything.
You may feel a myriad of smell changes as a result of dementia, but one of the most common and early symptoms is to completely lose your smell.
"When we take odors, the signals move from the front of the brain and through the hippocampus - the part of the brain responsible for memory. If the hippocamp cells are degenerate or damaged, then the signals of the 'smell will not be treated, " Nancy Mitchell , RN, an authorized nurse with more than 37 years of experience Treatment of dementia patients , recount Better life . "We say that there is a disconnection in the communication route to treat this smell. The decrease in cellular health in these key areas is often due to the accumulation of plaque, thus altering regular functions."
