Latest news with #youngOnsetDementia
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The real-life dementia signs Debbie from Coronation Street has shown
Warning: The article contains spoilers for Friday night's episode of Coronation Street. Tonight on Coronation Street, Debbie Webster's loved ones will finally learn she has been diagnosed with young onset dementia, following a series of concerning symptoms. Played by Sue Devaney, Debbie, 56, was diagnosed earlier this year after she began experiencing forgetfulness. Despite these signs, she kept her diagnosis a secret, but her condition has become increasingly difficult to hide. Her behaviour has become increasingly erratic, including mood swings and alarming blackouts. The storyline was developed with guidance from Dementia UK, which also advised EastEnders on a similar plot involving Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley), to ensure an accurate portrayal. According to the charity, young onset dementia affects those under 65 and impacts approximately 70,800 people in the UK, roughly 7.5% of the estimated 944,000 living with dementia. Experts Hannah Gardner, a dementia specialist and admiral nurse for Dementia UK, and Professor Paresh Malhotra, group leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute, say Debbie's storyline accurately sheds light on the experience of younger individuals with dementia. Speaking to Yahoo UK, Professor Malhotra explains that dementia affects a person's ability to carry out everyday tasks due to problems with cognitive processing. This can include difficulties with managing finances, using a computer or navigating familiar places. In Debbie's case, she has been making mistakes at work. "Sometimes we all have the occasional lapse where we forget something we've said, or we forget something we've heard," he explains. "But it's when people start to have increasing difficulty doing the things that they've always been able to do, and increasing difficulty taking on new tasks, when it's more likely that there's a brain condition underlying." Professor Malhotra says people may struggle planning a complicated meal, hosting friends and organising a holiday. If someone is experiencing younger onset dementia, they often struggle with tasks associated with work, such as setting up a new phone or email address. He adds: "So whether it's to do with planning, whether it's to do with concentration, whether it's to do with the ability to come up with the right word, these are all things that can be affected." Gardner agrees, explaining how people may have concentration problems as well as difficulty making decisions and "slower thought processing." She says: "So if someone asks someone a question, it can take longer for them to process and respond." Debbie's first sign of trouble came when she booked theatre tickets for herself and her then partner, Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan), forgetting he already had plans. Her increasing forgetfulness soon led to misplaced items and missed appointments. According to Professor Malhotra, forgetfulness is one of the most common and recognisable early symptoms of dementia. "People won't remember having spoken to someone recently. They won't remember having organised to meet at the pub on a particular day, or that they plan to go to the cinema or that they agreed to do something at work," he says. "So it often shows itself in something having gone wrong, or not having recalled something important for carrying out a task." Gardner explains that this forgetfulness can permeate throughout different aspects of someone's life, adding: "It could be forgetting recent events, misplacing items or putting them in the wrong place, forgetting appointments, forgetting to do things and forgetting names of people, objects and places. It could also be struggling to find the right word and repeating themselves." In Wednesday night's episode, Debbie's distress escalated when she confronted 16-year-old Brody Michaelis (Ryan Mulvey) and a friend drinking at the hotel she manages. When Brody refused to show his ID, Debbie lashed out, smashing their beer bottles and demanding they leave. Professor Malhotra says people don't bring up mood changes and aggressiveness as much as they should, considering they can be early symptoms, especially for young onset dementia. "People can often be misdiagnosed with depression or anxiety in the year or two beforehand, and it's part of the onset, as it expresses itself through mood swings and behavioural changes," he shares. Gardner says that people can also often be misdiagnosed with anxiety or menopause, which causes a delay in a dementia diagnosis. "You don't expect someone in their 50s to have dementia if there's no family history, you put it down to the pressures of work, the changes in women, a mental breakdown. But with Dementia UK, we're trying to raise awareness," she explains. Since her diagnosis, Debbie has experienced blackouts. In young onset dementia, these cognitive blackouts can involve periods of amnesia, disorientation, or confusion. Professor Malhotra notes that such episodes may also occur in specific types, like Lewy body dementia. "Some types of dementia are associated with epileptic seizures, which are essentially blackouts,' he says. 'And in other conditions, blackouts can also occur, so these more physical symptoms can sometimes be part of the diseases that cause dementia." Gardner explains that "dementia isn't a disease itself, it's a symptom." It results from various underlying conditions, with Alzheimer's disease being the most common cause. Other major types include vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. If you need advice or support on living with dementia, contact Dementia UK's Admiral Nurse Dementia Helpline on 0800 888 6678 or email helpline@ You can also book a free video or phone appointment to get expert dementia support from an Admiral Nurse at Read more about dementia: Study reveals how long people with dementia live after diagnosis (PA Media, 4-min read) 'I answer dozens of calls about dementia a day - here are 7 things most people ask' (Surrey Live, 4-min read) 8 things you can do to cut your risk of dementia (Yahoo Life UK, 2-min read)
The Sun
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Coronation Street legend in shock collapse as she finally admits devastating diagnosis
CORONATION Street legend Debbie Webster is going to suffer a shock collapse this week. The businesswoman - who is played by actress Sue Devaney in the ITV soap - has been hiding her serious health issues for quite some time. 3 3 3 Viewers known Debbie was diagnosed with young onset dementia earlier this year much to her devastation. Now this week things will get on top of her as she struggles with the aftermath of breaking up with Ronnie Bailey to spare him from watching her decline. When Debbie admits to Bernie that she finds it hard being in the same room as Ronnie, Bernie suggests they head to her hotel and have a few drinks there instead. Debbie and Bernie arrive in the Chariot Square bar to find Brody there enjoying a drink with a mate but when the troublesome teen fails to provide ID, Debbie loses her temper and, picking up his drink, smashes it on the bar. Later in the week Bernie worries for Debbie as she forgot to pay in the cafe. Meanwhile Debbie breaks the news to Ronnie and Leanne that she needs to cancel the awards ceremony as there's a flood at the hotel, but Leanne offers to host it at Speed Daal. As Ronnie and Leanne share a laugh, Debbie watches. Later Debbie makes a disturbing discovery, when she sees Carl telling Abi that they're meant to be together. With horror they realise Debbie is watching them - but what happens next is a shocker. Suddenly Debbie collapses and as she regains consciousness, Kevin and Abi tell her she's going to hospital. But Debbie reveals that she already knows what's wrong and she's got dementia. How will her family react and will Carl and Abi use her illness to hide their affair?
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I'm a dementia specialist - here's the early warning signs that hit the under 50s... and have NOTHING to do with memory
Forgetting how to do basic arithmetic, swearing in front of your children or suddenly finding yourself unable to remember how to use the printer are all little-known signs of early dementia, a leading expert has warned. Known as young-onset dementia, the condition has risen by a shocking 69 per cent in the last decade—with more than 70,000 people affected. And while symptoms of the disease differ from patient to patient, one expert has told MailOnline of five key signs she often sees in younger patients. 'With older patients, forgetting things is often thought of as the first sign of dementia,' said Professor June Andrews, dementia specialist and author Dementia: The One Step Guide. 'But the dementia that people get while they're still working is different in nature. 'The most pronounced symptom will depend on their lifestyle and responsibilities. 'It'll be the sort of thing that you would notice because you can't cope with daily life the way you used to.' So, what are the most common young onset dementia symptoms? Struggling with numbers 'Finding that you're suddenly having a problem with counting can be an early sign of dementia,' Prof Andrews said. This can look like not being able to remember numbers, or simply hold them in your head while doing mental arithmetic. 'If you have to subtract seven from 100, you've both got to do the subtraction and remember where you are in the sequence,' she explained. 'It depends a lot on who you are and what you do for work. 'For example, a mathematician with young-onset dementia may still be better at maths than his doctor, but have lost some of his mental numeracy. 'But, just like forgetting words, suddenly being unable to do basic mental maths can be an early sign of the disease.' Brain fog It's a very common issue for women of a certain age. But brain fog isn't just a symptom of menopause. In fact, it can also be a very common sign of early onset dementia. 'In young people, feeling a sense of tiredness, or fogginess, is very common— particularly for parents of young children, or after a late night,' said Prof Andrews. 'So when people of working age find themselves struggling to concentrate in the office, or having difficulties thinking straight, they can easily find a way to explain it away. 'The problem is, dementia can cause this type of persistent brain fog. 'This could look like continually having difficulty understanding instructions or completing assignments, much like when you're sleep deprived, but all the time.' Tasks taking longer Everyone has slow days. But when you consistently find simple tasks are taking you ages, it could be a sign of early onset dementia. 'Needing more time for things that you used to do easily—or having to look up how to do thinks that were once second nature—is concerning among under-50s,'Prof Andrews explained. 'I know of one man whose wife began to suspect he was having an affair, because he was coming home later and later from work. 'But the truth was sadder. Work that he used to complete easily and quickly was taking him longer and longer to do. 'He was having to check manuals for things that could do without even thinking about before.' Missing steps in a routine There are loads of things that we do almost on autopilot throughout our daily lives, says Professor Andrews. But for people with early onset dementia, these steps can get a bit confused. 'When you're getting ready for work, there's a certain order to the steps in which you do things, whether that's getting out of bed, getting dressed, brushing your teeth or making breakfast,' she said. 'If you're having difficulty with your brain processing, you may start to miss steps out or get them in the wrong order. 'That's why sometimes you'll see people with dementia out on the street in their pajamas. It's not that they forget but they just have done things in a jumbled way.' The problem appears in a similar way at work. 'At the office, you usually have tasks that need to get done by a certain deadline. 'But working within a time limit and having to put everything together becomes really hard if you have dementia.' Swearing more often Finally, for those with a certain type of dementia that impacts the frontal lobe—the brain's inhibition regulator—called frontotemporal dementia, a warning sign of the disease can be swearing more than normal. 'Most people know when they can and can't say rude words out loud,' said Professor Andrews. 'But people with dementia that's affected their frontal lobe increasingly lose the ability to discriminate between what is and isn't acceptable to say.' This can be swearing in front of children, or saying inappropriate or rude things to people without realising. 'Someone might find themselves increasingly coming out with comments that would previously have left them mortified.' Every person with dementia is different, and presents symptoms differently, Prof Andrews explained. 'How quickly you're diagnosed is a lottery depending on how observant people around you are, and how far you go in terms of denying or concealing the problem,' she added.
