WALK OF LIFE
The 4 early warning signs of dementia you can spot when you WALK
Plus, find out how to lower your dementia risk
MEMORY loss is often the first symptom people associate with dementia.
This can include losing your wallet, forgetting to pay bills, missing appointments or getting lost,
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However, studies reveal that early signs of dementia can also appear in a person's movements.
One piece of indicated that changes to someone's pace when they walk could be an early indicator of dementia.
Meanwhile, another study found that a worsening sense of direction and taking "wrong turns" are a sign of the most common form of the disease, Alzheimer’s.
This isn't the first time scientists have suggested a change in walking habits, like pace, is an early indicator of dementia more broadly.
Read more on dementia
Prof Gill Livingston, a psychiatrist at University College London, told Sun Health: "This is because walking requires lots of thinking.
"You don't just walk, you have to walk in a space filled with things you need to avoid, in a certain direction all while keeping yourself balanced.
"People who suffer from dementia, even in the early stages, can't accurately do all these things at once," she explained.
Here are four early signs of dementia that could show up as you walk.
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1. Worse sense of direction
Everyone gets lost occasionally, it's part of life - especially if your phone runs out of battery.
But losing your sense of direction regularly could be a sign of Alzheimer’s, especially in the early stages.
Signs of dementia that might be missed
The study carried out by a team at UCL and published last year, discovered people with the disease “overestimated turns” and had a worse sense of direction when retracing their steps.
According to Prof Gill, this is not just because people with the condition lose their memory - they also lose their perception of the world around them.
She said: "People with early-stage Alzheimer’s can struggle to understand objects properly so they see things as 3D when they're not, or even 2D when actually 3D,
"It means they see objects which aren't there, which can force them to walk in a new direction while trying to avoid it.
Terry Griffiths dies after long battle with dementia
Former world snooker champion Terry Griffiths has died at the age of 77 after a long battle with the disease, his family has confirmed.
The Welshman won the 1979 World Championship as a qualifier, beating Dennis Taylor 24-16 in the final.
Terry Griffiths' son Wayne wrote on Facebook: "To our friends and snooker followers in general, we are deeply saddened to share the news of our loss.
"Terry Griffiths OBE passed away peacefully on 1 December, after a lengthy battle with dementia.
"He was surrounded by his family in his beloved home-town in South Wales.
"A proud Welshman, Terry was born in Llanelli, brought pride to Llanelli and now he has found peace in Llanelli.
"He would not have had it any other way."
"Or it means they can fall over things they think are flat.
"On top of that, they can't remember things they've seen previously, so getting back to places can be hard."
2. Slower pace
We all have different walking speeds, some of us lagging behind more than others.
But walking progressively slower each year could be an early sign of dementia, Prof Gill told Sun Health.
"As the cognitive ability declines thinking gets slower," she said.
"And this means it takes sufferers longer to think about where they are going how to get round objects and coordination, which slows them down."
A large Australian , which looked at the walking speeds of over 17,000 adults over age 65, found those whose pace fell by five per cent or more annually were most likely to develop dementia, compared to those whose walking speed didn't change.
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3. Smaller strides
People who suffer from dementia are also more likely to have smaller strides when walking, studies have shown.
US published in 2016, found smaller steps and wider gait - where a person walks with their feet abnormally far apart - were signs of a decline in memory.
But so far, experts don't know why these walking patterns are common among people with the disease.
"The guess is that people with dementia are less confident about where they're going and their ability to get there," Prof Gill explained.
"So they take smaller steps, like someone would on a slippery surface."
4. A change in arm swing
How a person swings their arms while they walk could uncover a sign of dementia, experts have suggested.
Several studies have found moving the arms less while walking is an early warning sign of the condition.
According to Prof Gill, this is because those with dementia "struggle" to keep balance while on the move.
She said: "To try and stay upright and maintain balance sufferers tend to use swing their arms more but keep their arms closer to their body."
Ways to lower your risk of dementia
There are things you can do to reduce your own risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's.
No single behaviour is guaranteed to prevent dementia - but there's lots of evidence to suggest that making tweaks to your lifestyle choices could affect your risk.
Dementia risk is lowest in people who have healthy behaviours in mid-life - from the age of 40 to 65 - according Alzheimer's Society.
Here are a few easy changes you can make:
- Exercise regularly to boost your heart health and circulation and help maintain a healthy weight.
- Drink less alcohol - try to have no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, about one pint of beer or a small glass of wine each day. If you regularly drink much more than this, you are increasing your risk of damage to your brain and other organs, and so increasing your risk of dementia.
- Don't smoke - it does a lot of harm to the circulation of blood around the body, particularly the blood vessels in the brain, as well as the heart and lungs.
- Engaging in social activities to help to build up your brain’s ability to relieve stress and improve your mood - depression and social isolation have both been linked to dementia.
- Manage health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, which can increase the risk of getting dementia.
- Protect your eyesight and hearing - vision loss increases a person’s risk of developing dementia. The same goes for hearing loss, which can also be an early symptom of dementia.
- Wear a helmet - as traumatic brain injuries can start a process in the brain where the substances that cause Alzheimer’s disease build up around the injured area.
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Source: NHS
Dementia is a general term for losing the ability to remember, think or make decisions - to an extent that it interferes with a person's daily life.
There are more than 900,000 people in the UK living with dementia, which is also the nation's biggest killer.
And as people live for longer, that number is predicted to soar, as getting older is the biggest trigger for the memory-robbing disease.
Most people with the disease are diagnosed late because tests are complex and symptoms can be vague.
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A late diagnosis means sufferers get less time to try possible treatment options and make important decisions about their future.
Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for around two-thirds of dementia cases in the UK.
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