Navigation skills loss early sign of Alzheimers

[nitram]

Getting lost may be the first sign of Alzheimer’s, scientists discover

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/06/getting-lost-may-be-first-sign-of-alzheimers


More about the Four Mountain Test referred to in article

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5092189/

http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~th512/mountains_poster_small.pdf

http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1472012/1/Thesis_final_volume1_Gore_redacted.pdf

 

[Zana]

Although OH has FTD one of the first things we noticed was that he decided to buy a tom tom, this was after him being a very anti tom tom person because he said they encouraged laziness.

Then he used it at every oppertunity and used it to return to adresses he had been to several times.

When I mentioned it to the young GP he found it quite normal! I blame that on young persons addiction to technology

 

[Bunpoots]

We had the opposite reaction from dad's GP. He phoned me (with dad's permission) to ask if I would go to see him with dad as he had concerns because dad had been late for several appointments because he'd got lost...

And that was the beginning of his diagnosis.


Sent from my iPad using Talking Point

 

[Shedrech]

interesting nitram
I remember being puzzled that my dad couldn't orientate himself when we were out walking, despite me showing him the map and pointing out the landmarks; we'd have ended up going in the opposite direction (and onto private land) if I hadn't realised something was wrong, put the map away and said let's just follow our feet and see where we get to (taking the correct path) - oddly for dad, he was happy to do that; usually he'd 'argue' if he thought he was right
later, I realised that, for me, this was a significant sign that something was wrong - dad's work had depended on him drawing up and interpreting plans; he'd been a keen walker, using maps; he'd had the kind of memory that he remembered routes having only done them once

 

[marionq]

My daughter gave John a telling off for blaming me about taking the wrong turning. She pointed out that everyone else in the car heard me give the correct directions. That was the first of many such incidents long before we considered Alzheimer's.

 

[canary]

My OH was a very keen walker/backpacker with a strong sense of direction. I remember being discombobulated when (many years ago now) we went for a walk in a bluebell wood and he got totally lost.

 

[Spamar]

It was a longstanding family joke that OH wasn't able to read a map, unless it was on the dining table!
Without obviously noticing, hindsight being a wonderful thing, this gradually got worse. My stepd reminded me just today of an occasion when he drove to see his son for a game of golf, but got lost and managed to get home. He also managed to get lost on the way home from his normal golf club. Never on the way there, because signposts pointed the right way! On the way home, signposts pointed to K, which he didn't recognise as being on the way to W, from where he knew the way home! The relevant signpost had been removed for cleaning/ scrapped in the war. Recognise this?
Roll forward to when losing the way was first recognised as a possible link with dementia. An app was produced, called Sea Hero, by UCL, UEA and AS so that you can find out your navigation skills.
So why is this latest report news? This has been apparently known for several years.
OK, I know they are trying to find out more about the reasons etc.
Seems to be like news on the internet, it gets repeated time and time again!
Btw, I noticed OHs map reading problems in 1983, when he was 50. He died 32 years later, 8 years after diagnosis ( though we knew he had a poor memory for at least 4 years before that).

 

[Lawson58]

OH never got lost locally but he has always been with me or walking with the dog who knows her way around the whole area.

We had only been living here about four years when I became concerned about him so he wasn't really familiar with our small city but he never did learn his way around and could never follow directions from me or the GPS. There probably was a language component in that but the neuropsychologist said she had some worries about his spatial awareness.

I also know that he doesn't notice things that ordinary people would. I bought a new lamp for the living room and it took three weeks for him to see it and he never notices if I am wearing a new shirt. It's like parts of the outside world don't register anymore.