Is Dementia an Invisible Illness?

I will start by telling you I am not an expert on dementia. All that I know I have learned from the school of hard knocks, but that is enough to turn your blood cold.

Dementia is a catch all word for loss of memory in any way shape or form. The most well know form of dementia is Alzheimer’s. The truly insidious thing about dementia is that is creeps up on a person rather unnoticed. At first it can seem like the normal short term memory loss that goes along with aging.

If you consider it, no person wants to lose their ability to think and function normally. Most people with dementia hide it, and that is not as difficult as it may sound. Like a person who does not know how to read, they learn ways of skirting the fact that they are confused. A person can easily hide the signs of dementia for years before it progresses far enough to be a problem for them.

Some of the signs of dementia are: asking the same question over and over, or not remembering what was said 2 minutes ago. People lose the ability to remember simple things like when to take pills, or what their pills are for. They may become careless and do things like leave the stove on, or water running.

What they don’t lose is their ability to reason and cope with their situation. They can usually explain away the memory lapses, or become combative. And yes, we all forget some times, just not all the time. By the time dementia is diagnosable, it has progress far beyond normal memory lose.

Dementia is a chronic illness that remains an invisible illness until it has progressed far enough to be diagnosable.

National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week is a boon to everyone. It helps open the eyes of people who do not suffer from such illnesses, and it assists those to who do. These types of sites are great, and we need more of them.

Nancy Montana was a Office Manager at a living and rehabilitation center. She also assists with the care giving of her partners aging parents. She has learned a great deal about the ills of aging. She has a desire to share that with others. You can visit her web site at costplus10store.com

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