The subtle warnings of dementia in middle age

FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE OFTEN THE FIRST TO NOTICE THE SMALL SIGNS, SAYS CAMILLA FOSTER

- By Camilla Foster

NEW research suggests that middle-aged adults with biological signs of poor heart health are more likely to go on to be diagnosed with dementia in later life.

A team of researchers, led by academics at University College London (UCL), looked at long-term data from nearly 6,000 people and examined their levels of troponin - a protein released into the blood stream when the heart muscle is damaged.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, found that those with the highest troponin levels at the beginning of the study had a 38% higher chance of developing dementia, compared to those with the lowest levels.

In light of this research, we got in touch with Fran Mada, consultant admiral nurse for young onset dementia at Dementia UK, to discuss what other signs might indicate dementia in middle-aged adults.

Can you develop dementia in middle age?

“It is possible to develop dementia when you're younger and in what you call middle age,” says Fran. “When you develop symptoms below the age of 65, we call that young onset dementia.”

However, this often goes under the radar.

“Dementia is usually associated with older people, so when you see signs in somebody younger, we don’t usually think about dementia,” says the admiral nurse.

“The symptoms are also often quite subtle and people think that it’s just general forgetfulness and are still able to carry on with some of the normal life activities that they do, and therefore it gets missed.”

Here are seven subtle signs that might suggest a middle-aged adult is developing dementia...