A new study of The University College London which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease has linked altered sense of humor with dementia.
The experts conducted an interview among the relatives and friends of 48 patients with frontotemporal dementia, as reported in BBC.
The respondents were asked to cite examples of inappropriate humor shown by their loved ones years before any diagnoses. Most of them reported that they had observed a shift in humor among these patients.
Many said that these patients had begun laughing at tragic events in the news or their personal lives such as one laughed at someone having hard time to breath because of asthma. In a less disturbing event, one laughed at a badly parked car or at a barking dog.
"These were marked changes - completely inappropriate humor well beyond the realms of even distasteful humor. For example, one man laughed when his wife badly scalded herself," said Dr. Camilla Clark, who was involved in the study.
Experts said that more research is to be conducted to see how and when changes in humor could go about as a warning for dementia.
One of the rarer forms of dementia is Frontotemporal. Those that are most likely to be affected of this disease are people under 65. It affects the region of the brain that controls personality and behavior.
In contrast to Alzheimer's, which causes difficulty with memory, patients can rather lose their inhibition, turn out to be more impulsive and struggle with social situations.
"We've highlighted the need to shift the emphasis from dementia being solely about memory loss," Doctor Clark said.
"These findings have implications for diagnosis - not only should personality and behaviour changes ring alarm bells, but clinicians themselves need to be more aware of these symptoms as an early sign of dementia."
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