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Is It Getting Older, Or Dementia?

People often start to forget things more as they get older. Most often this is a normal sign of ageing. But for someone with dementia, changes will be different, more serious and will affect their life more.

What are the normal signs of ageing?

As people get older, they are likely to notice some changes in their mental abilities. These could include:

becoming a little more forgetful
taking a bit longer to remember things
getting distracted more easily
finding it harder to do several things at once.

This may become noticeable particularly from middle age – usually meaning our 40s, 50s and early 60s. Though these changes can be frustrating, they are a natural part of ageing. Many people worry that these are early signs of dementia. For most people, this is not the case.

How is dementia different from normal ageing?

Dementia is a group of symptoms. It’s caused by different diseases that damage the brain. The symptoms of dementia get worse over time and include:

memory loss
confusion and needing help with daily tasks
problems with language and understanding
changes in behaviour.

When a person has dementia, this worsening in mental abilities is much more serious than the normal changes that people experience as they get older.

The changes may be small to start with, but become more noticeable. For a health professional to diagnose dementia, a person's symptoms must be significantly affecting their daily life. This means having difficulties with completing daily tasks about the house, in the community or at work.

Below are six tables showing differences between changes that are likely to be part of getting older and those that could be signs of Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia – the two most common types of dementia. Not every person with dementia will have all of these symptoms.

Examples of normal ageing vs dementia

Memory and new information

Common signs of ageing	Possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia
Forgetting something you were told a while ago	Forgetting something you were only recently told. You may ask for the same information repeatedly – for example, 'Are the doors locked?'
Misplacing things from time to time – for example, your phone, glasses or the TV remote – but retracing steps to find them	Putting objects in unusual places – for example, putting your house keys in the bathroom cabinet
Taking longer to work out new tasks, such as how to set up and use a new appliance or device	Being unable to learn new tasks, like setting up and using a new appliance or device

Planning and decision making

Common signs of ageing	Possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia
Being a bit slower when planning, but being able to think things through	Getting very confused when planning or thinking things through
Finding it harder to do several tasks at once, but being able to focus on a single task	Struggling to stay focused on a single task
Occasionally making decisions without fully thinking them through	Not making informed, careful decisions when dealing with money or looking at risks
Sometimes making a mistake with a new payment, but being able to manage overall budgets	Finding it hard to manage regular payments, like budgets or monthly bills

Language (speech and conversation)

Common signs of ageing	Possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia
Occasionally struggling to find the right word, but remembering it eventually	Having frequent problems finding the right word or regularly referring to objects as 'that thing'
Needing to concentrate harder to keep up with a conversation, but being able to join in when focused	Finding it hard to take part in conversations
Losing track of the conversation if you’re distracted or if many people are speaking at once	Regularly being unable to follow what someone is saying even without distractions

Orientation (having a sense of time and place)

Common signs of ageing	Possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia
Getting confused about the day or the week but figuring it out later	Losing track of the date, season or the passage of time
Getting lost in a place you don’t know well, but being able to figure out where you need to be	Getting lost in a place that is familiar or that should be easy to find your way around – for example, a supermarket

Vision and perception (understanding what is being seen)

Common signs of ageing	Possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia
Having misty or cloudy vision, caused by cataracts or other changes in the eyes	Having problems making sense of what you see – for example, having difficulty judging distances on stairs, or mistaking reflections or patterns for other objects

Mood and behaviour

Common signs of ageing	Possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia
Sometimes feeling reluctant to join in at work, family and social meetings	Becoming withdrawn and losing interest in work, friends or hobbies
Sometimes feeling a bit low or anxious	Getting unusually sad, anxious, frightened or low in confidence
Becoming irritable when a routine is disrupted, but being able to cope with the change	Getting easily upset at home, at work, with friends or in places that usually feel comfortable or familiar

These tables list common examples, but everyone’s experience of dementia is different and you know yourself best.

Any changes that aren’t normal for you should be taken seriously. The changes may not seem big, but if you are struggling with things you used to find easier it’s best to speak to your GP.

Next steps

The thought of being told you have dementia is frightening. It can be difficult to talk to other people about your symptoms and how you’re feeling. But doing this will help to get answers and any support you need. If you’re worried about any changes you’ve noticed in yourself or in someone else, you could: