This content was created by Lisa Skinner. This content was uploaded by Lisa Skinner. This is a YouTube interview titled "Morning blend on abc13, lisa skinner 540p" (recorded/posted 2025-08-14) featuring a morning show conversation with hosts (labelled SPEAKER A and SPEAKER B) and Lisa Skinner, a certified dementia practitioner and organizer of the Minding Dementia Summit. The discussion covers dementia and Alzheimer’s early warning signs (e.g., repetition, confusion, social withdrawal, diminished sense of smell), challenges caregivers face distinguishing normal aging from disease, less-recognized symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, personality change, and Skinner’s book "Truth, Lies, and Alzheimer's: The Secret Faces." Metadata indicates this is a YouTube clip with promotional reference to mindingdementiasummit.com.
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It's a conversation that unfortunately touches many families. So today we're speaking with an expert to shed some light on dementia and Alzheimer's.
Certified dementia practitioner and expert behind the Minding Dementia Summit, Lisa Skinner, joins us now. Good morning, Lisa.
Good morning. I'm fine, thank you. Thanks so much for inviting me here.
It's a pleasure having you here. Obviously, you know, this is a, this is a difficult subject and one that a lot of families have to, have to deal with and probably some are dealing with right now. It's tough watching a loved one face these kind of situations. What are the earliest warning signs, or what are some things people should be looking out for when it comes to dementia and Alzheimer's in, in a loved one?
That is actually one of the most difficult aspects of this disease because the signs, symptoms, and behaviors in the early stages are very subtle. So it's almost impossible to differentiate between normal aging forgetfulness, mild cognitive impairment and full-blown dementia or Alzheimer's disease. But what I advise people to look for is, are things like if they start repeating themselves, in other words, telling the same story over and over again in the same conversation, or asking the same questions over and over again, this typically means that they're might be a brain disease happening, developing in the brain, and it's already beyond normal aging forgetfulness. So showing confusion and social withdrawal are very common signs and behaviors. There are hundreds of them, but these actually end up being some of the earlier signs. The other thing that a lot of people have actually reported is that they remember experiencing a diminished sense of smell in the very early stages. It doesn't happen with everybody, but it is an unusual symptom that occurs in a lot of people who are actually developing Alzheimer's disease.
Yeah, and, and sort of expanding on that, why do you think it's tough for caregivers to, to really hone in on the difference between that, those normal aging signs versus dementia and Alzheimer's signs?
That's a great question, and I think it's because there are so many aspects to living with a brain disease that causes dementia that a lot of folks aren't looking for all of the signs, symptoms, and behaviors that actually accompany Alzheimer's disease or one of the other diseases that causes. So, for example, a lot of people experience hallucinations and delusions, and a lot of people aren't looking for that. So I always recommend learn as much as you possibly can about what to expect once the diagnosis takes place, because there are so many things that accompany this disease that come on unexpectedly that a lot of people don't recognize as being part of the disease.
Yeah, you have a book out right now, Truth, Lies, and Alzheimer's: The Secret Faces. It covers some, some really important and powerful themes. What is the secret face the family should know about?
Uh, one of the secret faces, and the reason why I entitled my book It's Secret Faces, is exactly what we were just talking about. There are so many aspects of this disease that people don't associate with being part of the disease. So, for example, hallucinations are very common. But most people associate Alzheimer's disease exclusively with memory loss, and confusion. They're not expecting people to have false beliefs or delusions. They're not expecting people to have hallucinations. They're not expecting people to become paranoid and suspicious. Personalities change as a result of the damage being done to the brain and their ability to reason things out and use sound judgment. Are all part of the disease. So one of the secret faces, I'll say, is having a hallucination, seeing rats running all over your living room floor, that the person with dementia honestly believes they're there, they can see them, but a person with a healthy brain would not be able to see them. So that's why I refer to those type of things as the secret faces.
Great insight.
Yes.
Really fascinating.
Thank you. Lisa, thank you so much for joining us.
You're very welcome, and thanks again for having me.
It's a pleasure. Of course. For more information and to learn more about how Lisa Skinner Skinner can help, visit mindingdementiasummit.com.
