Horizon's Dementia & Care Of The Elderly Blog

(Quote from BBC News)

Good BBC article (click the link above) about signs to look out for to find out if someone has dementia, but I think dementia may start much earlier than anyone currently thinks. I want to share my tip for spotting potential dementia in someone you know and I'm talking from direct experience here. Or, you yourself may show a sign of problem yourself. Don't ignore it!


Basically, look out for a one-off behaviour that is done constantly. What I mean by this is that if someone in the early stages of dementia, yet still years away from showing signs of it, they may be unable to do something or say something which is out of character for them and do it constantly.


Some examples to look out for are:

• Calling someone by the wrong name all the time and/or confusing that person with someone else and yet get everyone's else's name correct.
• Putting something in the wrong place, ie putting a spoon in the knife drawer each and every time, or almost every time and yet everything

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Well, after a long hiatus, I've finally decided to get into this blog business again.

The whole point of this blog was to talk about my historical experiences of looking after my dad, but I think this blog will be wider in remit for reasons I may talk about in the future.

So, for now, this blog will be a few random thoughts I may get on issues surrounding the elderly and vulnerable. As it happens, I have a few random thoughts to share from the last few days.

Went shopping in Tesco on Wednesday evening and as I always do, I immediately notice the elderly and disabled in the shop. It was in the evening and I was with my brother who drives, I don't. Even for a younger person, it's not easy doing things like get shopping if you don't drive, as I regularly know myself. (try getting a trolley on a crowded London bus full of shopping.... imagine if that's your only option.)

I first spotted quite a young chap who was in a motorised wheelchair and he was struggling to reach most of the shelves -…

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I was a carer to my dad for over 12 years and if I had known at the beginning what I know now, it would have made things a lot easier.

I am writing this blog as an aide to those people who care for someone with dementia.

To be clear, I am not a nurse, doctor, or posses any formal medical qualifications or knowledge. The information and advice I post here is advisory and you should always seek advice from a medical professional.

This blog is based on my experiences of looking after my dad who had Frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson's disease. He passed away in August 2016.

Although dementia and Parkinson's are two separate diseases, they do tend to go hand in hand. So, if an elderly person gets Parkinson's, they will likely get dementia too. But a person getting Parkinson's disease, especially a younger person, may never get dementia. The best example of this is the American actor Michael J Fox who got Parkinson's at a very young age.

Dementia is a disease. It is not a natural…

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