Man diagnosed with Alzheimer's aged 41 shared video of himself suffering early symptom in real-time
A 41-year-old father posted a video of his struggles with Alzheimer's and explained what was going on to followers.
Fraser, an Australian content creator, makes videos about his journey with the devastating health condition and how he is navigating his new life.
He has previously shared what he thought symptoms were, as well as what you should do if you suspect that you may have Alzheimer's, as he tries to raise awareness of how common the brain disorder is to help others in similar shoes.
Alzheimer's is a brain disorder that causes memory loss, confusion, and changes in behaviour, as the leading cause of dementia in older people in the UK.
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It is a progressive condition, meaning that it's side-effects develop over the years and will become more severe - with early signs including minor memory issues.
Fraser has been very candid with the content that he shares about his experiences with Alzheimer's, and in a YouTube video uploaded in March, he shared a clip of him struggling with an early symptom in real-time.
Explaining that he didn't publish it at first, the video shows the dad sitting in a car trying to recall his time on the golf course with a few mates, and admitted that he 'struggled to remember the names of things'.
He can be seen staring off into the distance several times in the videos as he had trouble gathering his thoughts, getting more frustrated and swearing.
"Clearly, I was frustrated in that moment... I think it was just because largely (because) I'd felt like the one place that I feel like dementia hasn't really affected that I really enjoy.
"Just having to hit with my mates and having to joke around, it was the first time in that setting anyway that I just was unable to really just get my words out."
"It just becomes very foggy, even when I'm motivated to speak, even when I want to speak - I just can't," Fraser sadly explained.
He's only been diagnosed in the past year, but Fraser also previously said that it all started around two years before the diagnosis.
The 41-year-old went on: "Often, I do use humour to counteract negative interpretations of an event like that, in this time here I really wasn't in that
mindset,"
"You can't help but also notice these events and have them in the back of your mind, almost like you're tallying them up, how many of them you experience and how bad they are," he said.
Both memory loss and confusion are early symptoms of Alzheimer's.
Speaking about how often he experiences episodes like the one in the video, he said: "That's a symptom I've only started sort of getting them, I don't know, let's say the last year or something."
"I don't know they're definitely a lot more frequent now anyway," he further admitted.
Fraser went on to share another video that he uploaded as a short, where he can be seen in tears as he fully delves into how exhausting it has been to deal with his cognitive decline, which is 'more than he thought'.
According to the NHS, around one in every 13 people with Alzheimer's disease are under the age of 65.
If you've been affected by dementia or Alzheimer's and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact the Alzheimer’s Society via 0333 150 3456 or visit their website for more information.
Topics: Mental Health, Health, YouTube
Joshua Nair