NEW YORK: Middle-aged dementia patients are wrongly being told they are going through a mid-life crisis or marital problems by doctors who are failing to recognise symptoms, experts have warned.
Tens of thousands of patients have types of dementia that present different symptoms than those associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of the condition.
Jonathan Rohrer, a specialist in frontotemporal dementia at University College London, claimed that doctors were ‘stuck on the idea’ that memory loss was the main symptom of dementia and were missing other tell-tale signs.
Changes in personality and a loss of motivation can be warning signs of some forms of the disease – but some patients can take years to be diagnosed.
Dr Rohrer said: “There are quite funny symptoms that people by and large don’t think of as dementia and therefore don’t think that could be the problem.”
He added that one lesser known symptom was developing a sweet tooth – and recalled the case of a man who quit his job as an accountant to work in a sweet factory, only to be fired for eating the products.
“When your problem is a change in behaviour like losing motivation, a lot of people get diagnosed with depression,” Dr Rohrer said.
Studies show those with frontotemporal dementia can wait up to five years for a diagnosis – two years longer than those with more common types. The problem is most prevalent among middle-aged people. Dr Rohrer said: “We see a lot of people who are simply told it’s a problem in their marriage.”
“People become more irritable, saying rude things that are socially unacceptable, as one of the symptoms is loss of empathy towards loved ones.”
“People tend to go to the GP and say, ‘My partner’s not right’ and GPs say, ‘It’s just mid-life’ or ‘You’re not getting on any more'”…