The Silent Symptoms of Dementia: Watch Out for These 6 Warning Signs
If you notice these early signs of dementia, you need to act now.
DATA:
0:00 Introduction: Dementia
0:10 Is it dementia?
2:00 What is dementia?
2:25 Early signs of dementia
5:15 Preventing dementia
Today I’m going to cover six early signs of dementia. Keep in mind that these could also be signs of other things like a lack of sleep, a blood sugar problem, or many other things—not necessarily dementia.
Dementia is a mental decline. Certain parts of the brain are actually shrinking—specifically the hippocampus.
6 early signs of dementia:
1. Difficulty organizing and planning things
2. Personality changes
3. Constipation
4. Sensory dysfunction
5. Language problems
6. Problems navigating
If you think you’re showing early signs of dementia, it’s best to act now. Don’t wait until it becomes a bigger problem.
Important things you can do right now:
1. Take vitamin B1 (nutritional yeast)
2. Fix the gut (consume a variety of vegetables, get on a low-carb diet, consume organic foods, and do fasting)
3. Consume sprouts (broccoli sprouts)
4. Generate ketones (do intermittent fasting and prolonged fasting and take MCT oil or exogenous ketones)
5. Consume ginkgo biloba
6. Consume lion’s mane mushroom
7. Consume omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and zinc, and get plenty of exercise and sleep
Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:
Dr. Berg, age 57, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.
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Disclaimer:
Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, and prescription or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
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Thanks for watching! I hope this helps make you more aware of the early signs of dementia.
Both on my parents suffered from dementia. Both started showing signs at about 80, and both lived to be 89, but by the end neither one knew my name anymore. My dad actually got more easy going, but my mom became paranoid, combative and argumentative, and lost her great sense of humor. My brothers and I took care of her at home for years before a stroke put her in the hospital and then a nursing home the last 1 1/2 months of her life. Every day was a battle with her. She didn’t want to do anything she needed to do, told each of us we didn’t love her, accused us of trying to poison her when we gave her meds, told us we’d be glad when she was dead, and so on. It was really heartbreaking, and hard to deal with emotionally.
Im so sorry. My mom was same way. I knew she loved me so much but towards in end i swear she just couldn’t stand me that made me so sad all the time. It just broke my heart. I miss her so much…
Why same story with demented persons? (You stole my wallet!! etc etc). Always becoming very opinionated and selfish
I’m so sorry.. I’m going through the same with my mom right now.. it’s hard to see her it’s so disturbing and depressing for me. I feel bad but she’s not too happy to see me anyway.
I also went through this with my Mom. She passed five years ago. She called my sister and I bitches, almost broke my Dad’s finger, etc. It was heartbreaking because like other’s have mentioned this disease steals the wonderful personality of their parent. I came to this video because I just turned 50 and I’ve been wondering if dementia or other disease like it can be hereditary? After my Mom passed and we had learned more about dementia we realized that there were signs that slowly progressed over the course of 10 years that we missed. The big one was personality change. She became sad and angry. We all thought she was depressed, including her Dr. (that’s a whole other story) but that wasn’t the case completely. In the end she declined very rapidly and died the night before her 73 birthday. I’m sorry for everyone going through this with a loved one. xo
Alz is one of the worst things – my mom has it now and we lost my dad to it in Nov 2019 so ya I’ve been SCARED of getting this – but I cannot break my sugar … at least I don’t have any of these signs but I HAVE to get a handle on sugar
As a nurse who has worked with many dementia patients over the years I have an analogy of what I think they go through in the later stages. A person with dementia or Alzheimer’s is in a dream. A dream they cannot wake from. Think about your dreams of being somewhere & you’re lost-can’t call home-can’t find your car/house ..you are just wandering around lost. That’s dementia.
good analogy
Never thought about it like that. That must be terrifying
it will be not bad if it were a dream but it’s not a dream, is a nightmare it is just like things from your brain are simply erased and you don’t know them anymore. You can experience this as a normal people, through hypnosis you can temporarily delete certain words
How horrible, my dad had it and mom, and now I think I’m next,
@Ghostt girl it doesn’t have to be this way you have to take care of your gut , the more spicy you eat the better it is , you have to switch to the Italian way to live , regards food .Or to eat like Indians do , a lot of different spices
My mother died from dementia. I took care of her by myself at home. I miss her so much. She was the best mother. She’s been gone 5 months now
I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sure she knew how much you loved her and her memory will live on! 😊
I’m so sorry for you! That is my biggest fear! My mom and I are best friends and I dread the day we part in life. I cry writing this to you! I feel for you. Keep yourself busy, join groups that can help with the grief, and go do something that makes you happy because you know that’s what she would want for you!!! You will be in my prayers! You are strong!!!
Sheila, my mom passed from dementia as well. I also took care of her on a daily basis. The last several years of her life, she didn’t know me as her daughter. I was sometimes her sister, & other times her 10 year old childhood friend, Ava. Cruelest disease emotionally to go through. I’m so sorry you had to go through this as well. Bless your heart, & so sorry for your loss!!!
God Bless!
I cant imagine a life withiut my mother. Very sorry for your life
One thing I’d add to the list of causative factors is too much constant prescription medication. Most elders are on at least 12 medications working in combination. When I checked my mom’s meds out, everyone of them had memory loss as a potential side effect. When a person is going down that path the symptoms can seem like dementia and unfortunately they’re too out of it to be able to properly complain with an accurate description of what they’re feeling. So they’re written off as an age related dementia/Alzheimer’s patient. If a loved one is having cognitive issues the first thing I’d check is what prescription drugs are being taken and to gradually get them off every one unless absolutely needed. Most doctors are amazingly passive about this issue. Since their income streams are tied to this they’re only too happy to prescribe more. This over prescribing of drugs is the worst health destroyer there is. But it’s a goldmine for doctors.
I think the prescribed medications play a bugger role than we will ever know.
Do true, my mum started to change after she got on carbamazepine – which has strong associations with dementia and mood swings. Unfortunately, it would be too risky to take her off it, so we have to live with knowing that what she takes to not die is gradually destroying her brain.
My father was prescribed oxycodon for nerve pain. After waiting a year to see a neurologist for this pain, dad gave up. He was certain he was developing dementia, not realizing it was the oxycodon combined with bereavement and family stressors. He was not given the help he needed and the wait for neurologist was just too long. So he took his own life. He thought he was being logical. And in an age-ist world, too many people have accepted this as o.k. It is not. He just needed real medical attention and counselling. I wasn’t able to be there for him. My poor dad. A preventable death following another preventable death in the family a few months before. Our health care system is deteriorating. We need to educate ourselves where we can. But people need access to real health care too. Not just narcotics and other harmful drugs. When you have excrutiating nerve pain you should not have to wait 14 months to see a specialist.
@livableincome Thats a sad as hell story. I feel so bad for your father. Access to universal healthcare should be a right for everyone throughout the world.
@soarornor Thank you. You are very kind. The whole story is profoundly worse unfortunately. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. I am still shocked years later.
In the last few years of his life, my father suffered numerous seizures and after each one it seemed his mind became weaker and weaker. He ended up with terminal cancer and that really expedited the degeneration of his mind. He had all the classic symptoms of mild-moderate dementia such as memory problems, mood changed etc. But the weirdest symptom was he would tell remarkably complex stories that were complete lies. These stories would be quite advanced (to the point were the level of English used would have been superior to his pre-dementia state). I remember he told me that the “doctors thought his problems were being caused by an accidental chemical spill at a local plant, that was being investigated by the authorities”. It was so convincing I actually googled it (it never happened). And the next day he didn’t remember anything about it.
Is that a normal symptom of dementia or was that something else?
When i was a carer i used to go to a lovely elderly man, he had suffered several small strokes, and had more symptoms of dementia appearing after each one..he used to tell us carers some wonderful stories, as you said, very detailed, very entertainting to listen to…only after a couple of weeks of visits did we meet his daughter who told us they were complete nonsene, and he’d only started doing it since the onset of the strokes..he was great fun to care for..in 10 years of that job i think i only saw one other person, a lovely lady who has us all convinced she’d won wimbeldon as a girl in the 40’s..so, though it was defintiely part of their dementia symptoms, i dont think its a very common one.
@allykatharvey its very much a typical symptom of dementia. there are all different types of dementia, and many, including vascular dementia can be brought on by a strokes..even ones so small theyve gone unnoticed
@Lucy W. Even ischemic episodes (mini-strokes) can cause dementia. Occluded arteries (my late husband) can cause lack of oxygen to the brain which can cause dementia to come on rapidly.
Thank you for discussing dementia. My mom was diagnosed with dementia and then Alzheimer’s. What a nightmare. I believe it is harder on the family, caregiver when it reaches a certan point. They don’t know what is going on and it is very difficult to watch someone you love suffer with this. We had to put alarms on all the doors because she would try to out. She was convinced my father (who had passed away 18 years ago), was living under her bed and would put plates of food for him under the bed. She couldn’t understand why he wasn’t eating. Very sad.
God bless your parents. I lost my mom a year and a half ago. This must have been traumatic to you. My grandmother went through the same thing. It is hard to watch.
yeah its awful. wishing you the best 🙏
I’m sorry for your loss.
Yes, my poor Mom ❤️😥
This is incredible. I am a physical therapist assistant so clearly I don’t diagnose anyone with dementia but I do home health care so I work with these patients. It’s amazing how what you eat as well as your urogenital health affects your mind. When I see a patient who is normally pretty sharp but suddenly seems confused… Nine times out of 10 it’s a urinary tract infection.
Really??!!
A UTI?? Infections can cause strange things to happen to the body. I often wonder if dementia is reversible to some degree.
Totally agree re UTI’s/kidney probs affecting brain function. I experienced this myself for several years, aged 35-39. Two years of a monthly rotation of antibiotics, before ditching them all and taking zinc. The mental symptoms were very much a major part of each infection and completely floored me each time. 23 years ago, but I would definitely still recognise the onset.
Absolutely. My dad went completely loopy when he got a UTI. It was sudden and really weird.
If a UTI can sideline Connor Roy, it can sideline anybody
Yes I work in the health field and UTI’s work on peoples mind, confusion, agitation, even antibiotics work on older peoples mind.
Thanks Dr. Berg for your fantastic videos. So helpful!! I’m a zebra, survivor of a rare endocrine tumor- pheochromacytoma. It caused extremely high levels of cortisol. At the peak, before diagnosis, I had all of these symptoms. It was akin to having Alzheimer’s. I started getting lost on my daily commutes to/from work which was 90% freeway.
My memory became horrible.
After removal things normalized a lot. I was 32 and very athletic.
I’m lucky to be alive. Barely survived heart failure and all sorts issues. I’m often curious what the long term affects of living in that state might be. Not much info. I empathize with anyone experiencing that level of confusion. Its hard to be aware enough to know something isn’t right, and sensing frustration from everyone around you, but not aware enough to comprehend the full extent of the issues. Asking for the time every 5 minutes was annoying to everyone, but to me, each time was like the first ask. Hormones are key to health, on every level. More info on how to reset those would be great.
Thanks again for being awesome!
Dr. Berg, my mom and grandmom had dementia. Although their doctors could not do a direct blood test to test for it they went by their symptoms, which you mention here exactly. Though they also had other conditions as irritable bowel syndrome, reflux, depression, stress which sometimes would not let them sleep which I think worsened their dementia, etc. One physical effect from dementia that further alerted their doctors was that the brains of my poor mom and grandmom were being reported on their CT scans as ” shrinking ” and ” losing volume “. It was heart breaking to hear such things and it was hard for them too because they realized that they were having problems with their memory and were not able to do much about it. Their doctors did not make any recommendations about it either. You do. This parallels what you talk about in this video. Dr. Berg, you are a Godsend for helping us understand such things. Your presentations are going to help a lot of people at least improve their health because they are very clear and excellent. I lost grandmom at close to age 103 at a nursing home which did not care much about her by putting her in a room with no heat. She had dementia, but she could still talk and reason. Her hearing and sight made it tough for people to see how far her dementia was, but still a life is a life. Just because someone has dementia they are still a human being. They would not feed her or clean her. I had to do it. They did not even give her the medicines. Eventually she got chest congested and got pneumonia from the cold room. Their own radiologist told them to do follow up care after finding pneumonia on a chest X ray. They ignored him. They did not even tell me about it and just let her drown in her own lung secretions. The least they could have done was call 911 to send her to a hospital. They even refused to give her back to me. I also found her with bruises on her forehead which they ignored to explain. New York State, the Department of Health and even the District Attorney all protect these nursing homes. They all ignored us. This was a nursing home in the Bronx, Riverdale, New York. Diseases like dementia puts us all in danger if we are alone, find ourselves in a situation like my grandmother with criminals who took away her life and fear no prosecution, and if we live in a state like New York that does not prosecute repeat offenders from nursing homes and does not care about the elderly population. Age should not be a death sentence to our parents or grandparents, but that seems to be the pretext that they use to hurt them, including dementia. Thanks
Thanks for your comment. Appreciate it!
This absolutely breaks my heart. I’m so sorry for what they failed to do for your family
Don’t beat yourself up about you loved one. Everyone has the same story. Very difficult dealing with old people. The less you can do for yourself the more trouble you are in. I could write a book on the old people I know. Now I must look after ourselves.
@Kelley Wyskiel Thank you. They are brutal here with the elderly. Sorry about my late reply.
This is such an important topic. Thank you for bringing it to awareness.
Why??
@Janet Alderson what do you mean why? Lol
His entire list is correlation and some are outright laughable he even included them.
Lies again? Reflection Journal
@Nazri Buang XD
I had ALL of these symptoms during a time of severe stress in my life and they all resolved when better times came along. Diagnosing dementia in early stage is difficult.
Stress dementia is actually pretty common
Omg I’m in this now…
I feel it now resigned from job and will go to the caribbean to rest and then work intermittently
Due to these comments I am not letting my hypochondriac personality tell me I have early stages of Dementia, thank you 🙏🏻
It’s impossible actually
One thing I learned is that your elderly person can be suffering from a urinary tract infection (often brought on by a catheter). Suddenly my mother was talking out of her mind, saying weird things. The skilled nursing facility thought nothing of it. I insisted that something was wrong, so they sent her to the hospital for tests. My friend told me to have them check her urine. Sure enough, she had an infection. After a couple days on antibiotics, her mind was clear as a bell.
None of the hospital staff knew this.
Very odd. I work in a nursing home and it’s the first thing we suspect. At both our local hospitals it’s the first thing they check as well.
Unbelievable! That😮 should be the first thing that any medic would check, the urine.
Uti s commonly. Bring on hallucinatory or confused state. Most medical staff are abundantly aware of this fact.
Thanks for commenting on this we seen this play out and yes was a uti infection! Never knew a uti could do this.
The facility I was in just assumed that since I have liver disease my sudden confusion was hepatic encephalopathy. Turns out it was an infection UTI and the confusion lifted with the use of antibiotics. The ignorant doctor was ready to send me out to the ER for paracentesis. Luckily my sister who is a Nurse Practioner said no until they tested for UTI.
My mother-in-law had signs of dementia and we took her in for a full physical and it turned out she was actually severely anemic. The doctor put her on some high iron medication. It took three months but her iron went slowly up. After we got that fixed all her dementia symptoms were gone. I really appreciate your cautionary thing about not diagnosing your spouse.
I was thinking about that genetic severe blood disorder s and nerverous system problems can also be a contributing factor to memory brain functions like, MS, and Hemolotoligal problems.
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Can you tell me what medication it was, my mother is also having these symptoms and was told she’s anemic but the doctor told her not to worry about it.
@Veronica C. It was called SlowFe. Your pharmacist can advise you.
Yes, my mom is dealing with dementia and a UTI made it worse. Years ago I went over her meds, took her off cholesterol meds (statins cause memory loss), and others she did not need. She got better. Sounded normal. She is now in a home, Kaiser prescribed amlodipine and I said NO! It causes memory loss and she is in MEMORY CARE AT THE HOME! I researched and found out that Fiji water that is high in silica flushes out aluminum through our urine. Also Taurine is good for memory loss, and vitamin B12. I put it in her nightstand and would give it all to her when I visited. I noticed yesterday that it was gone and questioned the main people at the home. They said they took it b/c they cannot allow any medications that are not on the Dr’s list. I said TAURINE, CRANBERRY CHEWS AND B12 ARE NOT MEDICATIONS THAT’S WHY I WANT HER ON THEM. They said they need her Dr. to approve them. I said HER DR. APPROVED A BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION (AMLODIPINE) THAT CAUSES MEMORY LOSS!!!! You guys, you need to do your own research and demand things. They CAN get better!
Good on you! Stay on them and take care of your mom.
I worked as private care for years and you’re absolutely right on everything you’re doing.
The medications eat up many vitamins and minerals and gmos food kill those pathways or I should say good gut bacteria.
Same thing happened to me. After a year of taking a statin (Vytorin) I couldn’t remember the license plate to my car. This is on top of all the muscle aches, shoulder, back and knee. The doctor didn’t tell me anything about the side effects. When I finally googled it, you should of seen the lists of pissed off people.
I understand your wanting to have the things you brought her but. They need to be controlled because another resident might go in the room and take TBE not as in attempting to steal them but take a whole bottle. It happens. Also families have brought items that actually are choke hazards. Call her Doctor, ask is they will prescribe and then the home will give them to her
Dr. Berg, I love how calm you are in every video. Thank you for that.
I don’t know who is adding comments and deleting, but I won’t be responding further to this troll. Dr. Berg is an incredible healer, period!
My dad had dementia for the last 4 years of his life. Passed away October 25 this year at 95 years old. I took care of him though his transition. Miss you dad.
Sorry to hear about your loss. Hope you and the rest of your family are doing well.
Thank you
❤
I miss my Dad, Too. He was a little forgetful in later life, but he had symptoms, and He was a wonderful Man and devoted To The Catholic Church and continued Faithfully on until His passing. Requiescat in pace! I love you, Dad.
R.I.P
63 years old I was convinced that I was starting down the dementia road. All 6 signs were with me. In retrospect two things were generating this decline and thankfully it has passed. 1. My personal life was in turmoil with not only marital problems, but with me “catastrpohising” everything. 2. Was hearing loss. This is huge and so few people recognize it. When every minute of your day the brain is working over heated trying to simply fill in all the gaps you cannot hear…. The processor overheats. Now with good highest quality hearing aid, and with following mindfullness in my daily life…. I’m sharp again at 73
Thanks a lot for sharing this. Wish you a long happy healthy life
That’s amazing! May you continue enjoying and living a long, happy and healthy life! 👍
Glad you’re feeling better!! 👍👏🙏🏼
😉😊👍
This is helpful. I know I have hearing loss, but I never thought about it as being a stressor.
I had every one of these symptoms at late 40’s and was certain I had early onset dementia. MRI showed no change. It did show the affected area after an AVM which occured in 1997.
I have put this “brain fog” down to severe stress which occurred over the last 4 years due to trauma. My body seemed to shut down as a means of survival. I’ve noticed improvement over the last three months and whilst I will never be top of the class the noticeable improvement is nothing but positive to me.
I have major stress and trauma I wonder this about myself
My wife had all these issues and finally had an MRI. At 56 she was diagnosed with Alzheimers. So now day by day.
I had a massive infection post-op and was given Invanz 1G intravenously daily over a period of time. I started having seizures (side effect of the medication) when I went off of it and memory loss. I’ve lost a few years of my memory, my short term memory is gone, it’s made it hard to go for number two like I’ve lost control of my bowels and can no longer push…. Check what meds you were given. I’m still trying to find ways to get my memory back.
@Weareallbeingwatched my mom has Lyme and is now bedridden nonverbal for 3 years and they say Alzheimer’s
My Dad exhibited early warning signs of dementia for a couple years before he was actually diagnosed with a rare vascular brain tumor located deep within his brain. For anyone looking for answers about a loved one, make sure to check for brain abnormalities also!
Sorry to hear about your dad. Thanks for sharing your experience.
My mom recently passed, and she had been diagnosed with Schizophrenia for a long time. While that was not the cause of death, I was very curious as to what happens inside the brain from it. Thank you for answering all the questions I had.
Schizophrenia is not dementia, this is not what was happening inside her brain. But that’s a good question to look into. Schizophrenia has been linked to infection or virus from childhood, if I recall correctly. But don’t quote me on that as I’m not sure. I only know that it is not the same as dementia although the hallucinations might make it seem that way.