A woman who was diagnosed with dementia age the age of just 49 says she initially mistook one of the symptoms for the menopause.
Marie, a school teacher, shared her story on the Channel 5 programme Will You Get Dementia?, revealing that she became worried when she started forgetting her pupils’ names. Instead of suspecting early-onset dementia, she attributed her memory lapses and hot flashes to the onset of menopause.
Speaking to NHS GP Dr Claire Taylor, her husband Neil recalled: “You were having hot flashes at the time weren’t you. We thought it was menopause, that was what was making you forget words and things wasn’t it.”
“All the symptoms we’ve mentioned, well we thought it might be that.”
Marie added: “Then they told me it wasn’t menopause, dementia.”
Four years ago, Marie was diagnosed with semantic dementia, a rare form of the condition that leads to a loss of semantic memory, beginning with an impact on word comprehension, reports Surrey Live.
Dr Taylor noted: “It’s not only unusual symptoms that prevent an early diagnosis. For some people, it’s their age.”
“Marie isn’t your typical dementia patient. Marie was diagnosed four years ago, at the age of just 49 years old. It was with her children in her class that she first noticed lapses in her memory.”
A study published in September 2023 suggested that hot flashes could be an early sign of dementia. The research was co-authored by Rebecca Thurston, the director of Women’s Biobehavioral Health at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry.
She explained: “Hot flashes, particularly those occurring during sleep, have been linked to poorer cognition and, in our prior work, indicators of poorer brain health.”
“In this study, we took the next step and looked at the relationships between hot flashes and Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers.”
The documentary Will You Get Dementia? is currently available for streaming on My 5. For more information on dementia, causes and symptoms, visit the NHS website here.
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