Why hearing, vision and other sensory loss have dementia links and should be checked out
It’s not just memory loss that is a sign of potential cognitive impairment, but changes in touch, taste, smell, hearing and vision, too
Dr Clive Thomas is a mental health nurse in Wales who has worked in memory assessment and dementia for years, giving him deep insights into the ways in which people experience changes both in their memory and their ability to continue living independently.
During conventional memory assessments, he says, some people may do really well on testing, but admit that they know “something is not right”.
Some of the impairments that dementia may bring, which have less to do with memory but everything to do with the senses and perception, are explored in a new book, A New Approach to Dementia: Examining Sensory and Perceptual Impairment, to which Thomas and others have contributed.
These hiccups in the senses can offer clues that not all is well with the brain years before anything like dementia is diagnosed.
Some patients Thomas saw were not concerned about their memory, but suggested there had been changes – “maybe the way in which they were unable to execute familiar tasks, or the realisation that they weren’t able to multitask like they once did”, he says.