Deal with dementia by learning how to spot the signs of Britain’s biggest killer

SENIOR moment? Or worried it could be something more serious, like dementia?

I’m not surprised. After all, there’s a lot of it about.

There are currently 850,000 people with dementia in the UK and that number is set to bust the million mark by 2025.

So let’s suppose you’ve got real concerns about, say, your mum.

What are the signs that she may be developing dementia? When should you act? And what will happen when you do?

It can be tricky working out what’s straightforward absent-mindedness, normal ageing or the early stages of something more serious.

Clues to dementia are increasing slips of the memory for recent events and for the names of friends, family or everyday objects.

She might also have trouble following conversations or the TV — plus she might start to get bewildered or lost, even in familiar places.

Once this is starting to affect daily life, it’s probably time to grasp the nettle. And that can be easier said than done. Your mum might be quite happy to have a chat with her GP about it — which is exactly the right thing to do.

On the other hand, she may not like the idea at all.

Try gentle persuasion. And find out why she’s not keen.

Maybe she thinks her memory trouble is natural at her age, or perhaps she genuinely hasn’t noticed a problem. Or maybe she’s scared about what the doctor might say. Talk it through, explain your concerns and encourage her to make an appointment. And go with her if she’ll let you. If not, you might need to have a quiet word with her doc beforehand to flag up your worries.

So what will the GP do? At this point, it’s more about ruling other problems out than ruling dementia in. That’s because there are many other causes of memory trouble, including medication side-effects, thyroid trouble, stress and depression.