Not just forgetfulness: US researchers have discovered another early symptom of Alzheimer’s that should put relatives and friends on alert when it appears.
Forgetfulness, mood swings, sleep disorders or concentration problems are the first signs of Alzheimer’s. However, by then the disease is usually quite advanced. Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine (University of California) have now uncovered another early symptom of Alzheimer’s: the desire to give money to strangers. It may also explain why older people are more prone to scams.
Older adults are more vulnerable to fraud and exploitation
Grandson’s trick and co: Fraudsters deliberately target older people. Because they know precisely that they question their conspiracies less seriously. And despite the media envy, he has had shocking success with his ragged ways. Why so? The researchers wanted to get to the bottom of this question. “Our goal is to understand why some older adults may be more vulnerable to financial exploitation than others,” study leader Professor Duc Han said in a statement to the university.1 Under laboratory conditions, he and his team gave money to elderly men and women to strangers. The surprising and extremely insightful results were recently published in the journal “Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.”2
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giving money under laboratory conditions
For their experiment, the scientists recruited 67 participants (average age 69 years), all of whom had no obvious symptoms or known early signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s. In a lab, everyone was told that they would be assigned to some unknown person. The test subjects then received ten US dollars each. Now he had to divide the money between himself and the unnamed player in increments of one dollar according to his wish. Participants also completed a series of neuropsychological tests, including story and word recall tasks.
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People who volunteer money do worse on cognitive tests
It was found that participants who gave more money performed significantly worse on neuropsychological tests (which are known to be signs of early Alzheimer’s disease). ,difficulty handling money It has long been suspected to be one of the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s, and this discovery as a new early symptom supports that notion,” Han continues. He and his team have a possible early stage of the disease and without. Let us see a direct relationship between willingness to give money for a specific cause.
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IMPORTANT: There are also monetary gifts that come from the heart
Generosity is a valuable quality. As the lead researcher explains: “The last thing we want is for people to think that financial altruism among older adults is a bad thing. It certainly can be a conscious and positive use of a person’s money.” Rather, the point is that sudden altruistic behavior on the part of old friends or relatives can be a red flag for those close to them. Attention seekers not only protect their loved ones from economic exploitation. A new, important opening As a symptom, it may also help researchers identify what constitutes healthy giving behavior and what could potentially be a sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
