Change In Eating Habits Shows Signs Of Dementia

Irina Shlionskaya

Most people will confidently list the most obvious signs of dementia: forgetfulness, trouble concentrating, difficulty navigating time and space. Few people pay attention to the so-called eating behaviour. But it is precisely a sharp change in eating habits that can serve as the first "marker" of developing dementia, says neurologist Yekaterina Kozlova.

Here are the things that should alert you when it comes to your loved one, especially of an advanced age. A person who used to love to cook complex dishes is switching to simpler options.

Let's say his main diet consists of boiled pasta, potatoes or porridge, and even without the addition of seasonings. In a word, such dishes, the preparation of which requires a minimum of brain effort.

“It’s hard for him to remember how he cooked before, so the actions become so simple,” the expert explains. Some people stop cooking altogether, buy ready-made food in a cookery or a supermarket.

It is a problem with appetite, according to Kozlova. She states that a person either completely loses interest in food, and he must be persuaded to eat something, or, on the contrary, begins to eat often and a lot.

In the latter case, he simply forgets that he has already eaten, and may require food within an hour after a hearty breakfast, lunch or dinner. Such patients may even complain to outsiders that they are not fed at home, and this can look very convincing.

There are times when neighbours and acquaintances begin to condemn the relatives of such a person for alleged cruelty towards him. At the same time, outwardly a person may seem completely adequate, and his stories - quite coherent. Kozlova says that sometimes there is compulsive overeating: the patient ceases to control his appetite, can eat, for example, a whole pan of pancakes and stop only when the meal is over, or when he becomes ill from overeating.

Another complication is the fixation on certain products. It can be certain type of biscuits rolls, chocolate and some sauces. Often these are products that are unhealthy or generally strictly contraindicated for the patient (since he has diabetes, an ulcer, etc.), but the patient requires them. If relatives forbid him to eat "favourite" delicacies, try to limit these products in the diet, a person can throw a tantrum, claim that he is being bullied. And from the outside it may seem that it is.

For example, a daughter in front of her friend snatches another cake from her mother’s hands, and this seems wild to her friend, because she has no idea that an elderly woman has high sugar, and she cannot control her food desires.

Don't miss the symptoms! Alas, people do not always associate the changed habits of their loved ones with the approaching dementia. Especially when a person is not yet so old and, it seems, in the rest he argues and behaves reasonably. But when such signs appear, it is better to immediately contact a specialist and conduct an examination. Perhaps at this stage it will still be possible to somehow help the patient.

-- Pravda.ru