New Warning Signs of Alzheimer's Disease
Poor Money Management Skills and Memory Problems
Sep 23, 2009
A new study in Neurology (the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology), found that poor money management skills may indicate that a person with mild memory problems or cognitive impairment will soon develop Alzheimer’s disease. Here’s what the researchers found about these possible warning signs of Alzheimer’s, a type of dementia.
New Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease
The participants in this study were 76 older people with no memory problems, and 87 older people with mild memory problems but no symptoms of dementia (mild cognitive impairment). Participants were given a money management test at the beginning of the study, and then again after one year. The money management test was designed to assess skills involving counting coins, making grocery purchases, understanding and using a checkbook, understanding and using a bank statement, preparing bills for mailing, and detecting fraud situations.
After one year, 25 of the 87 people with mild cognitive impairment had developed Alzheimer’s-type dementia.
“Our findings show that declining money management skills are detectable in patients with mild cognitive impairment in the year prior to developing Alzheimer’s disease,” said study senior author Daniel Marson, JD, PhD, with the Department of Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
There are several possible warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease — and losing track of money management skills because of memory problems may be a quick, easy warning sign of this type of dementia.
Helping People With Alzheimer’s Improve Money Management Skills
“Doctors should proactively monitor people with mild cognitive impairment for declining financial skills and advise them and their caregivers about steps they can take to watch for signs of poor money management,” said Marson.
Possible ways to help someone with Alzheimer’s include overseeing checking and bill payment transactions, contacting the bank to uncover money issues (bills being paid twice, for example), or assigning a cosigners on the checking account so two signatures are required for checks written above a certain amount. Automatic online banking and bill payment services are also good ways to improve poor money management skills.
Related Reading
Go to Psychology and Mental Health Articles for a wide range of articles on topics such as depression, general psychological issues, and getting psychological help.
For more information on money management skills, read Top 10 Articles on Paying Off Debt and Saving Money.
Source:
- American Academy of Neurology, “Problems Managing Money May Surface Shortly Before Alzheimer’s Disease Sets In” (September 21, 2009).
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