Six Months of Certain Behavior Or Personality Changes May Be Sign Of Dementia

The New York Times (7/24, Belluck, Subscription Publication) reported that on July 24 at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, “neuropsychiatrists and Alzheimer’s experts” proposed that certain behavior or personality changes lasting more than six months may “indicate a very early stage of dementia.” Also proposed was “the creation of a new diagnosis: mild behavioral impairment [MBI].”

The AP (7/24, Neergaard) reported that the experts “proposed a checklist of symptoms” of MBI to alert families and physicians. The draft checklist includes “apathy, anxiety about once routine events, loss of impulse control, flaunting social norms,” and “loss of interest in food,” among other things. Should the checklist be “validated,” it could assist physicians in better identifying “people at risk of brewing Alzheimer’s and study changes over time.”

Related Links:

— “Personality Change May Be Early Sign of Dementia, Experts Say,” PAM BELLUCK, New York Times, July 24, 2016.

Posted in In The News.