Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Jul 25, 2025

Lots of more than just memory-loss to detect Alzheimer in early stages

Lots of more than just memory-loss to detect Alzheimer in early stages

With the Alzheimer disease continuing to impact many residents in the BVI, Vice President of the Virgin Islands Alzheimer’s Association, Dr June Samuel is reminding relatives about symptoms to be aware of to ensure their loved ones get early medical attention.

Dr Samuel outlined the symptoms in a recent interview on the Real Talk programme with host Karia Christopher.

She said while most persons usually recognise memory loss as a symptom of Alzheimer’s, there exist many other key symptoms that can be overlooked.

“Many years before you may start to notice depression, changes in their personality, and then some five years later relatives would notice that persons are having memory loss. They’re repeating themselves asking the same questions over and over. They have difficulties remembering where they’ve placed things. You may notice them being more irritable and then they have difficulties with basic everyday functioning,” Dr Samuel explained.

“So planning how to get from home to town, planning how to manage their finances, they would have difficulties with that and sometimes are different because they go in different stages,” she added.

Three stages of Alzheimer


Dr Samuel, who is also a psychiatrist, pointed to three stages of the disease — early, middle and late. She said each stage presents different levels of symptoms that someone with the disease may exhibit.

“Persons may even be looking in the mirror, and this is something that a lot of relatives relate to and because they don’t recognise themselves, because their memory isn’t working. Then they may think that persons are in the house, so then they break the mirrors,” she explained.

“[They may also experience] difficulties ,of course, with things like dressing themselves, taking care of their families and if you’re diagnosed during the time that you’re still working, in the workplace you may notice persons are not as organised as usual, they seem more confused, they seem as if they’re having just challenges functioning as they would normally function in their workplace,” she further said.

Try to convince those with symptoms to see a doctor


Dr Samuel said that once symptoms have been observed, it is important to ensure that the affected person gets medical help as quickly as possible before their condition worsens.

She said that persons are usually reluctant to seek the necessary help. She further proposed ways relatives or loved ones can use to convince the impacted person to see a doctor.

“One of the things I usually suggest to family members [is to find] who the person talks to that can convince them to do something, because essentially what you want to do is to get them to the doctor. So the person may be one of the kids that can get the parent to do anything that you ask them to do. It may be a friend or another family member,” Dr Samuel stated.

She continued: “Have them talk about what’s happening and what you’re trying to do which is to convince them to go to the doctor — that is assuming that the spouse themselves is unable to convince them in some way.”

In addition to the person physically going to the doctor, Dr Samuel also revealed that there is a system in place locally where it can be organised to have doctors provide home visits to conduct the necessary assessments.

The assessment by the doctor is covered by the National Health Insurance (NHI).

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
×