Symptoms vary between Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, but there are broad similarities between them all. The most common early signs of dementia are memory loss and a reduction in practical abilities, which can lead to withdrawal from work or social activities. If you think that these problems are affecting your daily life, or the life of someone you know, you should talk to your doctor, or encourage them to talk to theirs.

Early symptoms of dementia

Memory loss

Declining memory, especially short-term memory (remembering things that have happened recently), is the most common early symptom of dementia. People with ordinary forgetfulness can still remember other facts associated with the thing they have forgotten. For example, they may briefly forget their next-door neighbour’s name but they still know the person they are talking to is their next-door neighbour. A person living with dementia may not only forget their neighbour’s name but also the context. Memories for things that happened long ago may be preserved over recent events.

Difficulty performing familiar tasks

People with dementia often find it hard to complete everyday tasks that are so familiar that we usually do them without thinking. Someone with dementia may not know in what order to put on clothes or the steps for preparing a meal.

Problems with language

Occasionally everyone has trouble finding the right word but a person with dementia can often forget simple words or substitutes unusual words, making speech or writing hard to understand. They may also have difficulties following a conversation and therefore become more withdrawn.

Disorientation in time and place

We all sometimes forget the day of the week or where we are going momentarily but people with dementia can become lost in familiar places such as the road they live in, forget where they are or how they got there, and not know how to get back home. Someone who has dementia may also confuse night and day.

Poor or decreased judgement

People with dementia may dress inappropriately, wearing several layers of clothes on a warm day or very few on a cold day.

Problems with concentration, planning or organising

A person with dementia may find it difficult to make decisions, solve problems, or keep up with paying their bills.

Misplacing things

Anyone can temporarily misplace his or her wallet or keys. A person with dementia may put things in unusual places such as an iron in the fridge or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl.

Changes in mood or behaviour

Everyone can become sad or moody from time to time. Dementia may cause someone to become unusually emotional and experience rapid mood swings or irritability for no apparent reason. Alternatively, they may show less emotion or social interaction than was usual previously.

Trouble with images or spatial relationships

Image problems are different from typical age-related problems, such as cataracts. People with dementia can have difficulty in reading, judging distances, seeing objects in three dimensions and in determining colour or contrast.

Withdrawal from work or social activities

At times everyone can become tired of housework, business activities, or social obligations. However, a person with dementia may become very passive, sitting in front of the television for hours, sleeping more than usual, or appearing to lose interest in hobbies.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms or are concerned about a friend or relative, visit your doctor and discuss your concerns.

source: Symptoms of dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease International

A videóban a betegség okairól tudhattok meg sok hasznos információt. Válaszoljatok a videóban elhangzottak alapján a következő kérdésekre.
source: What is Alzheimer’s disease? – Ivan Seah Yu Jun, TED-Ed, Youtube

1.Who described the symptoms first and when did this person do it?

2.What peculiar problems did this person notice?

3.What do clumps do?

4.Why is the network of tubes in brain’s nerve cells important?

5.Why is short-term memory loss the first symptom of Alzheimer’s?

6.What do proteins do when they reach the brain’s rear area?

7.Why is acetylcholine important in the brain and why can it be decreased?

 keys/megoldások:
1. Dr Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist, in 1901;
2. difficulty in sleeping, disturbed memory, drastic mood changes, and increasing confusion;
3. Clumps block signalling and communication between cells, and also seem to trigger immune reactions that cause the destruction of disabled nerve cells.;
4. The brain’s nerve cells contain a network of tubes that acts like a highway for food molecules among other things.;
5. The destructive pairing of plaques and tangles starts in a region called the hippocampus, which is responsible for forming memories. That’s why short-term memory loss is usually the first symptom of Alzheimer’s.;
6. When they reach the brain’s rear, the plaques and tangles work together to erase the mind’s deepest memories.;
7. It is an important chemical messenger in the brain which is decreased in Alzheimer’s patients due to the death of the nerve cells that make it.

1. When was Sky born?
2. Why is Sky Brown one of the best female skateboarders around?
3. What happened to her last June?
4. What injuries did she have?
5. Why could Sky put everyone through the mill by winning the bronze?
6. When did she fall?
7. What did Sky do all the time?
8. What wasn’t she disturbed by?
9. Who got her into skateboarding?
10. What does she make people around her do?

Ha nehéznek bizonyul a feladat, elolvashatjátok a szövegátiratot, segítségül.

Hot Stories

In Tokyo, Sky Brown was born just before the 2008 Beijing Olympics and now just over 13 years later she’s bringing home a medal, astonishing.

It is absolutely incredible. You know, the age is one thing, but actually put into context, Sky Brown is one of the best female skateboarders around. She’s performed on world championship level, X Games. I think, what is really, truly incredible is that June of last year, she was in hospital. A terrible accident in training, practicing. She broke her wrist, her hand, she was in plaster, she had a terrible black eye but she also had a fractured skull, as well.
Yet, she’s come back from that. She’s gone through the like every other athlete, the game’s been postponed by a year as well and she’s come here and had nothing but a huge smile on her face, enjoyed every moment of it. In getting the bronze, she put everyone through the mill because she she’s super consistent. She doesn’t really fall that much. In the lead, up through the preliminaries, the qualifiers, (she) didn’t fall. In the X Games, the four runs she had on those, she didn’t fall. What does she do in the first two runs of three in the final? She falls. You kind of heart in your mouth. So that final run, she absolutely pulled it out the bag to secure the bronze.

There were two Japanese riders ahead of her, they were phenomenal. One of them silver medalist being a 12- year- old, she’s not even 13 until the 26th of August, so a little way to go for that one. But it’s an incredible achievement by Sky Brown. Just considering, she was in hospital just over a year ago but just her attitude. She doesn’t seem to be at all phased by the fact that she’s competing at Olympics, by the attention on her. Yes. She’s got a great family she speaks so much about her mum and dad. Getting a skateboarding bug from her dad, Stew, who is British. They live in the States or they split their time between the States and Japan. But that’s been one of the real sorts of highlights. It’s just sort of that huge smile on your face which puts a smile, you can’t help but put a smile on your face as well. And she also becomes the youngest ever member of team GB, any Olympics summer or a winter to win medals. That’s some achievement at 13 years and just 28 days.

source: Thirteen year-old Sky Brown becomes Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist winning bronze for Team GB, Sky News Sports, Youtube

keys/megoldások: 1. She was born just before the 2008 Beijing Olympics; 2. She’s performed on world championship level and x games.; 3. She had a terrible accident while training and practicing.; 4. She broke her wrist, her hand, she was in plaster, she had a terrible black eye but she also had a fractured skull.; 5. Because she she’s super consistent and she doesn’t fall that much.; 6. in the first two runs of three in the final; 7. She had a smile on her face and enjoyed every moment of the Olympic Games.; 8. She wasn’t disturbed/phased out by competing at Olympics and having all the attention on her.; 9. Her dad/She got a skateboarding bug from her dad.; 10. smile, you can’t help but put a smile on your face

Itt pedig megnézhetitek, hogyan is versenyzett X-Games-es versenyen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJbdGxb9wbA&t=419s

A videó megnézése után próbáljatok válaszolni a következő kérdésekre az elhangzott információk alapján.

1. Why was Lady Diana Spencer a breath of fresh air for the Royal Family? 7p
2. Why did she, as a Princess, capture the public imagination? 9p
3. How did Princess Diana show publicly that she was a mother as well? 5p
4. Why was she like a fashion model? 4p
5. Why was she like the Queen Elizabeth II in terms of style? 1p
6. What did Prince William advise her mother to do with her clothes and what did they do? 5p
7. What did Princess Diana ‘give’ to her elder son to help him in his future role as a monarch? 4p
8. How have Prince William’s family members showed compassion, care and empathy? 5p

source (video and picture): Princess Diana’s 60th Birthday, Her wonderful life remembered, The Morning Show, Sunrise, Youtube

keys/megoldások:1. Because she was a delightful 19-year-old woman with a job in a nursery school, with friends and flatmates who was funny and playful. She also loved music.; 2. Because she had the ability to communicate with ordinary people, she would go into hospitals, talk to, touch and hug aids patients. She did the same with leprosy sufferers. She had a natural warmth, a sense of compassion and empathy.; 3. She took her children to theme parks, drove to McDonald’s with them, she didn’t want them out of her sight. They also took the royal children on tour to Australia.; 4. She had the height, she had long legs, beautiful shoulders and gorgeous blonde hair.; 5. She was like the Queen, she loved wearing colour.; 6. to auction them off; She actually auctioned these dresses off for charity in New York and William was involved in it.; 7. humanity that has injected him with compassion and care for other people; 8. Prince William and his wife have been at the front line of praising and discussing with NHS and healthcare workers and their own children have taken little care packages to elderly people living near their estate in Norfolk.