How to spot early Alzheimer's symptoms at Thanksgiving gatherings
WASHINGTON, D.C. (7News) — This Thanksgiving you may gather with family you haven’t seen in a while. The holiday season kicks off a wave of calls to the Alzheimer’s Association helpline.
7News’ Adrianna Hopkins spoke with Sheila Griffith, VP of Programs and Services for the Alzheimer’s Association. She says this is the time of year when people who haven’t seen loved ones for a long time pick up on changes to someone’s behavior that are out of the ordinary for that person.
“If I don't see my mother regularly, but maybe my father told me that you know, something's not quite right and he doesn't really know what it is. They haven't got a diagnosis. We come home for our wonderful Thanksgiving celebration or any of the holidays that are coming up now and boy, I haven't seen mom for maybe six months and I can see something's not right. I agree,” said Griffith.
Adrianna: “What might you be noticing?”
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“In a large group, it's hard it becomes hard for her to follow the conversation. Maybe she was always very talkative and gregarious and you know, cooking the meal and leading the conversation, but that's not happening this year. 4:44
Griffith said communication issues, like having a hard time following a conversation, losing train of thought, disengaging, and withdrawing, are all warning signs of Alzheimer’s.
“A lot of times it feels awkward. It's embarrassing not to be able to follow a conversation. So that could be happening. Even trouble maybe absorbing the conversation, but trouble getting the words out to respond in a conversation is also awkward,” she explained.
But that’s one puzzle piece.
“That memory loss is what you're going to see that's one of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer's disease - that short-term memory loss. We're in the conversation around the dinner table and I can't remember that two years ago, what that trip we took, and you keep reminding me and I still can't remember that that's something that there's something going on there.”
A symptom of dementia (Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia) is a loss of executive planning skills.
“So the mail piles up. I used to always go get the mail and look at it every day. Now I never look at it. Maybe it's piled up in the mailbox, maybe it's piled up in the house. Look at the house, you know, am I doing a lot of online shopping, when I might not have done it before? Or just not even an organized or planned online shopping. Maybe things are just showing up. Maybe I'm hoarding and I never used to do that before. Maybe I'm just not cleaning and I used to clean a lot. How do I look? What do my clothes look like? Am I presenting myself in the same way I always did?” Griffith explained. “Certainly, financial red flags, you know, I've not paid the bills, I have no electricity, I've no heat. Because I haven't paid the bills because I'm not thinking of that anymore.”
Griffith says if you can put those pieces together it’s time to call the Alzheimer’s helpline and find out the next steps. It's a 24/7 helpline, open 365 days a year, and available in 200 languages: 800-272-3900. It’s a free service.