Walking is helping slow my dementia

Adrian Monti meets one woman living with a rare form of dementia which affects her balance and causes loss of limb control

- SALLY MCLEAN

WHEN keen walker Beth fell on Shepheard-Walwyn stepping stones while crossing a river, she feared it was yet another worrying sign about her health.

"Crossing rivers shouldn't have been an issue for me as I'd done it many times before, but I lost my concentration and landed on my bottom," said Beth, 66, a retired primary school teacher and tutor about her fall six years ago.

"Although it caused no real harm, it felt unusual.

"Around this time I'd also noticed that I was now struggling to play the piano - my right hand was fine, but my left didn't know what to do.

"I struggled with everyday tasks like putting on a coat or unhooking clips. Despite then only being 60, I thought I was just getting old, but felt something wasn't quite right." Beth also experienced dramatic weight loss and occasional involuntary limb movements, so eventually saw her GP in early 2020.

He suggested it might be caused by a stroke or ataxia, a condition where people struggle with speech, balance or coordination.

Her doctor referred her to a neurologist for investigation.

Beth, who lives with her husband Hugh in Stourbridge, West Midlands, said: "It was a case of ruling out conditions such as Parkinson's by going through all of my symptoms before making a diagnosis.