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Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Subtle warning signs of dementia everyone should know, according to expert who watched her grandma, mum and dad develop the disease
A dementia specialist has told of the varied warning signs of dementia that span beyond memory loss—after seeing different symptoms in her mother, father and grandmother, all of whom suffered the disease. Helen McDavitt, 52, from Hassocks, West Sussex had her first experience with dementia when her grandmother was diagnosed in the 1990s. Her grandmother Barbara McDowell, initially displayed symptoms in her early 60s, with her personality becoming unusually 'angry', 'paranoid' and 'vulnerable'. She also made frequent, bizarre mistakes, like putting an electric kettle on the hob. Barbara, who died of the illness in 1997 had Alzheimer's, the most common type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behaviour. Helen, who was in her 20s training to be a nurse at the time of her grandmother's diagnosis, said: 'I went travelling for nine months in 1992 and when I came back, she'd completely changed. 'She used to keep a diary, and we noticed it was all over the place, all scrambled and full of weird writing. 'It was almost as if you could see her brain on paper.' Her grandmother was placed in a care home for additional support when she started to become 'cross' and paranoid' over the years. 'She was always really outgoing, bubbly and sensitive and she just became quite angry,' said Helen. 'She started to be really vulnerable, she lost a lot of weight and just started to really change,' she said. The experience of looking after her grandmother inspired Helen to work in elderly care and hospice work. About ten years later in 2007, Helen's father, Keith Sellers, in his early 60s at the time, started displaying odd symptoms. These included changes to his personality, including appearing 'withdrawn' and 'saying the odd weird thing'. 'We started to notice subtle changes in his personality, he was becoming withdrawn, saying the odd weird thing. 'It was around that time I knew enough about dementia, and I thought this could be a familial link—he was really paranoid about it as well,' she said. However, it was when her father forgot how to fill up his car with petrol that she became increasingly concerned. 'He came home and said,"I've forgotten how to fill up with petrol, can you help me?", said Helen. Things 'unravelled pretty quickly after that' and Helen's husband Paul, also 52, built an extension on the side of their home so that her father could stay with them. 'We knew then what to expect from his mum, they were quite similar in their personalities, and I knew it was going to be really tricky,' said Helen. He could get verbally aggressive and sometimes he would throw things. said Helen. 'It got difficult really quickly, he became really combative, really angry and cross. He could get verbally aggressive and sometimes he would throw things.' Although he never received a formal diagnosis, his health deteriorated, and he died from the illness at the age of 70. Her experience with the devastating illness made Helen determined to 'make something good out of something really bad'. Determined to improve the diagnosis pathway for people displaying symptoms of the illness, she started a role researching dementia in 2013. 'My dad never got a formal diagnosis so this was a role I absolutely loved, looking into research about how people could get accurately diagnosed,' said Helen. She has been a dementia specialist Admiral Nurse at Dementia UK for the last seven years and now works to support the whole family through dementia. Then, last year, the curse of the illness struck again. Her mother, Ann Sellers, was diagnosed with vascular dementia aged 78, which has left Helen 'every so often' filled with 'dread' for her own future. Vascular dementia, a common type of dementia that is caused by a series of mini-strokes that reduce blood flow to the brain, is estimated to affect around 180,000 people in the UK. 'It's manifested itself in a totally different way which is the unusual thing about dementia, it's a different beast each time,' said Helen. Her mother's symptoms have been 'less acute' than her father or grandfather, she said. The early signs of vascular dementia typically include difficulty planning and troubles with understanding and concentration, as well as mood changes. But these symptoms can be 'barely noticeable', according to the NHS, and are often mistaken for depression. The prevalence of dementia in her family has left Helen fearing her own future. 'It's your biggest fear when you've seen it. I can only hope my family have an Admiral Nurse to support them,' she said. It is Helen's hope that her husband can have the support of a trained nurse if she develops the illness in the future. She added: 'Dementia is so complex and so different, it affects absolutely everybody, and it can shatter families. 'When you have it in your family, it does become something you fear for yourself. 'I'm still going through the menopause and when you have a symptom that is quite common and can be misdiagnosed, you think it's actually the start of dementia. 'It's very real, that worry and anxiety, and it does every so often absolutely fill me with dread.'
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Dementia specialist shares ‘dread' for future after parents and grandmother all suffer from illness
A dementia specialist, whose grandmother and father died from the disease, says she is filled with "dread" about her own future after her mother was also recently diagnosed. Helen McDavitt, 52, from Hassocks, West Sussex, first encountered dementia in the 1990s when her grandmother, Barbara McDowell, began exhibiting symptoms. She describes her grandmother as becoming "angry", "paranoid" and "vulnerable" before ultimately succumbing to Alzheimer's in 1997. Around a decade later, Ms McDavitt's father, Keith, also started showing personality changes, becoming "withdrawn" and "saying the odd weird thing". Growing concern turned to alarm when he forgot how to refuel his car. Although never formally diagnosed with dementia, his health declined, and he died from the illness in 2014 at age 70. Driven to find purpose amidst tragedy, Ms McDavitt, already a qualified nurse, dedicated herself to dementia care. She now works as a dementia specialist Admiral Nurse at Dementia UK, drawing on her personal experiences to provide comprehensive support to families navigating the complexities of the disease. The issue hit home again in 2024 when McDavitt's mother, Ann, received a diagnosis of vascular dementia. The recurring pattern of the disease within her family has intensified Ms McDavitt's fears for her own future, leading her to hope that her husband, Paul, will have access to the support of a trained nurse should she develop dementia. 'Dementia is so complex and so different, it affects absolutely everybody and it can shatter families,' Ms McDavitt said. 'When you have it in your family, it does become something you fear for yourself. 'I'm still going through the menopause and when you have a symptom that is quite common and can be misdiagnosed, you think it's actually the start of dementia. 'It's very real, that worry and anxiety, and it does every so often absolutely fill me with dread.' Ms McDavitt's family first saw the symptoms of dementia when her grandmother, Barbara, displayed changes in her personality in her early 60s. 'I went travelling for nine months in 1992 and when I came back, she'd completely changed,' Ms McDavitt said, adding that she was in her 20s at the time. 'She started doing things like putting a kettle on the hob when it was a plug-in one. 'She used to keep a diary and we noticed it was all over the place, all scrambled and full of weird writing. 'It was almost as if you could see her brain on paper.' Around this time, Ms McDavitt was training to be a nurse and looking after her grandmother inspired her to focus on elderly care and hospice work. Over the next few years, Ms McDavitt said her grandmother started to become 'cross' and 'paranoid', and she was placed in a care home for additional support. 'She was always really outgoing, bubbly and sensitive and she just became quite angry,' she said. 'She started to be really vulnerable, she lost a lot of weight and just started to really change.' Barbara died in 1997 at the age of 69 from Alzheimer's, a specific type of dementia. Around 10 years later in 2007, Ms McDavitt started to notice concerning symptoms in her father, Keith, who was in his early 60s at the time. 'We started to notice subtle changes in his personality, he was becoming withdrawn, saying the odd weird thing,' she said. 'It was around that time I knew enough about dementia and I thought this could be a familial link – he was really paranoid about it as well.' After Keith retired, he started taking shifts as a taxi driver but one day, he forgot how to fill the car up with petrol. 'He came home and said 'Babe, I've forgotten how to fill up with petrol, can you help me?'' Ms McDavitt said. 'He just looked ashen.' Ms McDavitt said things 'unravelled pretty quickly after that' and she and her husband built an extension on the side of their home in preparation for Keith to stay with them. 'We knew then what to expect from his mum, they were quite similar in their personalities and I knew it was going to be really tricky,' she said. 'It got difficult really quickly, he became really combative, really angry and cross. 'He could get verbally aggressive and sometimes he would throw things.' Ms McDavitt said her father went to hospital where he was voluntarily sectioned, before being placed in a care home – where his health deteriorated and he died at the age of 70 in 2014. Around this time, Ms McDavitt said she was 'on a mission' to get into dementia care, having completed her training as a nurse. She started a research role in 2013 looking at improving the diagnosis pathways of people displaying symptoms of the illness. 'My dad never got a formal diagnosis so this was a role I absolutely loved, looking into research about how people could get accurately diagnosed,' she said. For the last seven years, Ms McDavitt has been working as a dementia specialist Admiral Nurse at Dementia UK, a specialist dementia nursing charity supporting the whole family. 'I just felt like I finally had a chance to make something good out of something really bad,' she said. 'Admiral Nurses are there for the whole family and they help the family cope. 'It was something we never had as a family, we didn't know what we were doing or who to turn to and my personal experience does add another layer to it.' For advice or support on living with dementia, contact Dementia UK's Admiral Nurse Dementia Helpline on 0800 888 6678 or email helpline@
BBC News
06-05-2025
- BBC News
Hurstpierpoint College: Two men arrested over alleged sex offences
Two held in school sex offences inquiry The offences are alleged to have happened at Hurstpierpoint College Two men have been arrested as part of an investigation into historic sexual abuse at a West Sussex school. A 60-year-old man from Hillingdon in London has been held on suspicion of buggery of a boy under 16 years of age, in relation to an alleged incident at Hurstpierpoint College in 1988. A 73-year-old man from Hassocks in West Sussex has been arrested on suspicion of possession of an indecent photograph of a child in relation to an incident in the 1990s. Both have been released under investigation.
