10 Silent Warning Signs You're Going To Get Dementia

"If we really want to start slowing  down that rate of degeneration,  

we need to understand what causes the  degeneration so we can reduce those  

factors. That is our lifestyle. These are the  things that we can affect; those are the things  

that we have influence over. And the earlier  that you can catch any of these at the very,  

very subtle stages, the more likely that you  can do something about it relatively simply.

Hello, Health Champions. Today I want to talk  about the 10 earliest signs that you might be  

moving in the direction of dementia and why  is it so critical that we catch these signs  

and symptoms early while they're silent  because dementia is not reversible. So  

if we wait till we have full-blown dementia,  there's not a whole lot we can do about it.  

But as we talk our way through these signs  and symptoms, the first thing I want you to  

know is don't panic because every one of  us is going to have some of these signs  

and symptoms to some degree. The main thing  that we want to get out of this is to start  

understanding that the brain controls absolutely  everything in your body, and therefore any  

imbalance at all is going to be a sign of a brain  imbalance and some degree of brain degeneration.

But the key to understand here is that some  of these are perfectly normal. For example,  

if you're right-handed, you will typically have  a little bit stronger left brain and a little bit  

weaker right brain. So we all have some imbalances  to start with. The key is to understand which ones  

are normal and which ones really matter. So  once we understand that the brain controls  

everything and we can start understanding  what these signs and symptoms matter,  

now we can catch them very, very early and  we can do something to prevent dementia.

So at the very basic level, dementia means that  there is neural degeneration, that the brain  

cells, the neural tissue, the tissue that sends  and processes signals just isn't working as well  

as it used to. And one way to think about this is  a light bulb, that if you start off with a light  

bulb that has 100 watts, you can really brighten  a room. But then if there's a dimmer that starts  

turning the power down on this light bulb and  then we go down to 40 or even 25 or 10 watts,  

now that light bulb isn't burning so brightly and  we're going to cast some shadows on the room. And  

the same thing holds true with dementia, that the  brain just isn't working as well as it used to.

So let's just look at it very, very simply.  That if we have this much brain function,  

if we have this many watts of output from the  brain, then we have good brain function. If  

the function starts declining, then we have  reduced brain function, and at some level  

we're going to get down to a level where  it's not working well enough and we have  

dementia. And then at the bottom of the  scale here from side to side we have  

time. So this would be the beginning of life  and the end of it would be the end of life.

Now the thing to understand though is that from  birth up until about 20-25 years old we're pretty  

much home free. The growth and development of  the brain is just part of a natural growth. But  

then from 25 years and onwards, now the brain will  decline. We're going to lose brain neurons, we're  

going to lose connections, and what's important is  that we don't lose things so quickly because the  

slope, the rate of degeneration, is the key factor  here. So if we had a quick degeneration, now we  

might start having some decline. We might have  some memory loss, we might lose some coordination,  

we might have less quality of life at about  halfway into life or even earlier. And then at  

about three-quarters or so into life, we would  see dementias, different degrees of dementia,  

and this is what we see in the general  population that are heading for dementia.

So it would be a whole lot better if we slow down  the rate of decline here. And now you can see  

that the time where we would start getting some  decline, maybe some brain fog, maybe some lessened  

energy or some other degenerative disease,  it would move forward in time several years,  

maybe a decade or two. And the time that we  would hit dementia would move toward the very,  

very end of life. And this is what  we typically see in the population,  

that the vast majority of people have some degree  of dementia toward the very end of their life.

But what if we could reduce that rate of  decline even more, the rate of degeneration,  

so that we can live out our lives and never  hit that level of decline, much less dementia,  

so that we could have good function all  the way throughout life? And this is not  

impossible because there are people who  get into their 90s and centenarians even  

who have good brain function, are  clear and sharp to the very end.

But if we really want to start slowing  down that rate of degeneration,  

we need to understand what causes the  degeneration so we can reduce those  

factors. And these causes include things  like genetic factors, environmental toxins,  

oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation.  And then there's also some clinical findings  

like protein aggregates, mitochondrial  dysfunction, apoptosis, and autoimmunity.

And these last ones here, protein aggregates,  

those are the little protein buildups that  they find in the brains of Alzheimer's people,  

for example. Mitochondrial dysfunction is  critical because mitochondria are little mini  

organs inside your cells that make most of your  energy. So as we have a decline in mitochondria,  

we have less energy, so of course then that  light bulb would start burning a little dimmer.  

Apoptosis is programmed cell death, so all cells  are supposed to die. There's a turnover of cells,  

but if there's a problem, if there's a dysfunction  to the timing of this programmed cell death,  

now we can have it happen at the wrong time  or too early. And autoimmunity is when your  

immune system attacks itself and that,  of course, can speed up the degeneration.

But if we look at this big list, then the genetic  factors are the most important. But we have  

to understand what genetic factors mean because  most people think that's just your DNA. When we  

talk about genetics, most people talk about the  genetics that you get when you are conceived and  

that you have unchanged throughout life.  But that's just your genetic makeup. What  

we're talking about is genetic expression because  that's the bigger part of these genetic factors.  

And the expression of your DNA comes down to  lifestyle, which is in this yellow square here.

So the environmental toxins—these are hundreds  of thousands of different chemicals that we can  

potentially get exposed to that our ancestors  didn't have—that's a huge load on the body,  

on your DNA, on your genetic makeup.  Then we have oxidative stress, which is,  

again, part environmental toxins can cause  oxidative stress, but then there are many,  

many other factors like smoking  and processed foods and sugar can  

also increase this oxidative stress.  And, of course, chronic inflammation,  

which we talk a lot about, which is part of  metabolic syndrome and also from autoimmunity.

But then all the rest of the list here that people  very often talk about as the causes of dementia,  

they are really just secondary.  They're the result of the stuff in  

yellow here. So the yellow is where we need to  focus because that is our lifestyle. These are  

the things that we can affect; those are  the things that we have influence over.

And I like to talk about the Triad of Health. So  your health, you can think of it as a triangle  

where you have some chemical factors, you have  some structural factors, and you have some  

emotional factors. So chemical, those are the  nutritional aspects, the quality of the things  

that you put in, but also other chemicals that get  in the way like toxins, for example. Structure has  

to do with posture and movement and exercise and  flexibility and so forth, and this is why it's  

critical that we maintain some movement, we  maintain some physical activity. And emotion,  

that is basically how good you feel. That's  positive emotions on the upside like joy and  

purpose and happiness, and stress or anything  that feels bad on the downside. So there's a  

positive and a negative aspect to all of these  three, and they're like three sides of a table.

And all of these three will  affect the environmental toxins,  

your level of oxidative stress, your chronic  inflammation. That is where that comes from.  

And when we add it all up, then this becomes  a body burden. This is like the chronic load  

that your body has to deal with whenever  it's going through your daily life. And  

the higher your body burden is, the more  the load is on the lifestyle factors,  

and the more difficult it is for your body  to express those genetic factors favorably.

The first sign would be some kind of change in  your special senses like smell, for example. So  

if you start having difficulty in distinguishing  different smells that you used to be able to,  

that could very well be that you're getting  a little bit of brain degeneration. You  

could also have noticed that things that  you do recognize but they're more dull,  

they don't have that lively fragrance  anymore. And then we have taste, of course,  

which is a combination of taste buds and  smell. So when your smell starts to decrease,  

now the food starts losing some  of that interesting flavor also.

Another important special sense is vision when  you look at things, but it's not what people  

would usually associate with vision. It's not  your visual acuity, whether you need glasses  

or not. This would have more to do with a  lack of depth perception because that has  

to do with brain processing. It could have to  do with your peripheral vision, as your brain  

doesn't have the same capacity to process. Then  it starts to focus more right in front of you,  

and you lose some of that periphery. And it  could also be that you're seeing fairly well,  

but that you have a hard time interpreting  and making meaning out of what you're seeing.

And the next special sense is hearing,  and it is inevitable with increased age  

that you're going to be losing some of  those high frequencies. You're going to  

hear more of the lower frequency band.  But even if you hear well, you might  

have trouble understanding speech; it  doesn't sound as clear and it doesn't  

make as much sense anymore. And it could also  be that you're not as good at determining the  

direction of the sound anymore because all  of that, of course, is brain processing.

And the last special sense is touch. And here  it could be that you start noticing a reduced  

sensitivity to pain, and it could also be that  you're losing some of your tactile senses,  

the fine touch. And it could also  be less sensitive to temperatures.

Now, all the special senses have to do  with processing incoming information,  

but the next one, number two, has to do  with motor function. So now it's the type  

of information that the brain sends out, and this  has a lot to do with movement. And one thing that  

you're probably familiar with is posture. As we  get older, then people tend to have a hunched  

posture or a stooped posture, but again, this  is not inevitable. If we work on our posture,  

if we maintain movement and we practice posture,  then it doesn't have to become that way.

Another thing you might notice is if your hands  turn in because part of a stress response is that  

we get in a defense posture. We roll our shoulders  in, we pull our shoulders up, the hands turn in,  

and it's the brain that's supposed to turn  that off. So the better the brain is working,  

the quicker we can return to normal  and get our arms into a normal posture,  

which is where the hands are parallel to the body.

Another important aspect is gait and arm  swing. And here you can really kind of get  

detailed on looking at this. One thing  that often happens is shorter steps,  

and then oftentimes when it gets more severe,  elderly people start to shuffle. But it could  

also be simply asymmetrical, and this is something  that you could look for. And it's interesting,  

if you look around you, you hardly ever see  anyone walk with arm swing that is the same  

on both sides. So however much the right  and left arm are swinging forward and back,  

it should be symmetrical. Whichever side  has the lesser arm swing is typically the  

weaker side of the brain. But if you just start  walking and practicing, now you're reinforcing,  

you're reviving these pathways, and  you're building up that aspect again.

Another motor function is balance because your  brain has to process millions and millions of  

pieces of information every second for  you to stand still when we only have two  

feet to stand on. And this could be that you  notice you're a little clumsy maybe or that  

you have more frequent falls or maybe that  you're just feeling a little bit unsteady.

And closely related to that is coordination,  which is your ability to move your body relative  

to other objects in space. And this could be  something as simple as catching a ball or even  

maybe start buttoning a shirt. If those movements  start to feel difficult, that could be a sign  

of early brain degeneration. And the earlier  that you can catch any of these at the very,  

very subtle stages, the more likely that you  can do something about it relatively simply.

Another aspect of motor function  is also facial expressions and  

facial asymmetry. So the brain tells  all the little muscles what to do,  

and the health of the brain sets the basic  tone. So if you have more muscle tone on  

one side of the face than the other, if you  notice, for example, that one side is drooped,  

then that can be a sign of degeneration. It  could be that you notice that you or someone  

else is less expressive, that their face doesn't  have as much expression anymore, and maybe you  

see that you or someone is developing more of a  crooked smile or some other facial expression.

Sign number three is handwriting. So if  you used to write really neatly and then  

it starts to look more sloppy, then that can  be a sign of brain degeneration because you  

don't have that same level of control. And, of  course, I'll have to mention that doctors are,  

of course, exempt from this rule because we  are trained to write very, very sloppy. So  

what we're talking about is more recent changes;  it's not something you've done all your life. But  

if you notice that it gets more shaky and less  controlled, then that may not be a good thing.

And another very specific case is called  micrographia, and this is particularly associated  

with Parkinson's disease. And this is where you  notice if someone is starting to write very,  

very slow and very, very small. It's like they're  taking great care to write, but everything becomes  

really tiny. And this is for three reasons. With  Parkinson's, you have less speed of your motions,  

so you have to focus harder on controlling them,  and you're also getting more muscle stiffness  

because the brain sets the muscle tone, meaning  it decides how much to turn it on and off at any  

given moment. And with Parkinson's, you get muscle  stiffness because it doesn't know how to turn it  

off. And, of course, with Parkinson's, you also  have less control, less coordinated movements.

Number four is speech changes, and here again  we're talking about very subtle changes. That  

could be something like just a weaker voice  or a softer voice where someone used to be  

very expressive and now it pulls back a little  bit. It could be slurring of words, it doesn't  

sound as clear as it used to, or it could be  hesitation as if people are constantly searching  

for words. If they stop mid-sentence, it's  like they have to plan out what they're doing.

Number five is difficulty swallowing, and  this might seem strange to some people,  

but swallowing is a pretty complicated thing.  A lot of things we take for granted have many,  

many different steps to them. And, of course, the  brain controls all of this. This would be if you  

have difficulty swallowing in the absence of some  other noticeable fact, like when you don't have a  

sore throat or you don't have a swelling. In  some cases where people have a neck problem,  

like they have a growth on their spine or  they have an enlarged thyroid or something,  

that could affect your ability to  swallow. But if you have trouble even  

when there's nothing that they can find,  then that could be a neurological thing.

Number six is tremors, which is a form of mild  shaking, repetitive shaking. And this one we  

need to understand a little bit because  here we're talking about some mild and  

temporary shaking initially. And this would  be mostly noticed in your hands and fingers,  

and it would be at rest, meaning you're  just kind of sitting there and it starts  

shaking. So this is not like you're doing a  hard workout and you've exhausted a muscle,  

and then you go reach for something and you  shake. That's normal. But if it's mild and  

temporary and you're at rest, then that could be  a sign that your brain isn't working quite right.

And related to that, I want to mention something  called a twitching eyelid or a blepharospasm,  

which it's called, and that's where your eyelids  start twitching. And it might twitch for a few  

minutes or half a day or off and on, but then it  goes away. So I wouldn't say that that's normal,  

but everyone has had that at some point,  and it doesn't mean nothing. It means that  

there was an imbalance in your brain and  nervous system, but it was temporary. So  

we don't want to worry too much about  all the little things that come and go.

Number seven is less stamina, and here we're  talking about different types. We're talking  

about physical endurance because if you're  working out, if you're moving physically,  

if you're exercising, the brain still has  to drive that activity. But then, of course,  

if you're sitting still and you're working  on something cognitive, something mental,  

then that's another type of endurance. But they  both go back to the brain; they depend on the  

brain. And, of course, one aspect of that would  be focus. So if you notice that you don't have the  

same endurance in terms of focus and getting  things done, then that could also be a sign.

Sign number eight is decreased reflexes, so  this could be a slower reaction time in general,  

or it could be more specific, like  we have slower responses to visual or  

auditory cues. Like something  shows up in our visual field,  

we see or we hear something, and it  just takes a little bit longer to react.

Sign number nine is spatial confusion, and this  is when you don't have a great sense of direction  

anymore. And before you panic, let me just say  that I don't feel like I have a great sense of  

direction, and it's gotten way, way worse since  we got all these automatic navigation devices  

in our cars and on our phones that tell us every  moment where we're supposed to go. But what we're  

talking about here is more of a change, that  if there is an area that you're supposed to  

know and all of a sudden you have difficulty  navigating even though it should be familiar.

And another one could be that you  have spatial confusion in an area,  

in an environment, in a room  that should be very familiar.

And sign number ten is a change in emotional  affect, and that's another word for emotional  

expression. There are some people who tend to have  a very flat affect. That means that they don't  

show much emotion with their facial expressions  or their voice. So when you have flat affect,  

then you have less vocal intonation. So  it's normal in speech to have your voice  

go up and down. Part of this is culture,  part of its habit, part is personality,  

but we express emotions by varying our vocal  intonation. And as the brain becomes a little  

weaker, a little slower, then very often we can  lose some of that variation and get more of a  

flat affect. So we're not expressing emotions  that well or not demonstrating it to others.

And one way we do this is with  our voices, and another way  

is with facial expression. So if both  of those start going a little more flat,  

that could be a sign that your  brain is not as bright anymore.

So if it's a very early gradual degeneration,  we would probably be more likely to see a flat  

affect. But in later stages, we could actually  see the exact opposite because now the brain is  

supposed to inhibit certain spontaneous outbursts.  And if the brain isn't strong enough to inhibit,  

to control that anymore, now we can see the  opposite with exaggerated vocal intonation and  

vocal expression and facial expressions,  and we can see things like outbursts.

So I hope you see how the brain is really what  controls everything. There are no accidents. If  

you stumble, if you have sloppy handwriting, if  you are out of balance, it all means something.  

It's not accident. And if you want to learn how to  make things better, how to start addressing these  

things at an early stage, then I have lots and  lots of videos on this. It's pretty much what we  

talk about in all my videos, and I've done some  specifically on how to prevent early dementia.

If you enjoyed this video, you're going to  love that one. And if you truly want to master  

health by understanding how the body really  works, make sure you subscribe, hit that bell,  

and turn on all the notifications so  you never miss a life-saving video."