Charles David
Charles David
3 juli 2024
My name is Charles David, and I am a second-year PhD student at the Alzheimer Centrum Limburg. I graduated as an epidemiologist in 2021. The focus of my research is the pre-diagnostic phase of Young Onset Dementia (YOD), specifically the time to diagnosis and the early symptoms that appear years before a YOD diagnosis. I believe it is important to learn more about YOD because people rarely suspect one’s symptoms to be related to dementia before the age of 65. This makes the diagnostic journey stressful, filled with uncertainties and sometimes it can take years to get a YOD diagnosis. As a young individual myself, I empathize with the challenges of not knowing why and when experiencing symptoms related to YOD.
“I may not know a whole lot about young onset dementia (YOD), but I am willing to find out.”
My research involves reading the literature to understand the existing knowledge about the prediagostic phase of YOD and talking to people with YOD and their informal caregivers, to fill knowledge gaps based on their experiences of getting a YOD diagnosis. During my PhD, I hope to identify early symptoms of YOD that are observed by people with YOD, their informal caregivers and are seen by General Practitioners and try to unravel why YOD is often misdiagnosed. These findings can be used in practice and for future research to facilitate a timely YOD diagnosis.
My colleague Liset de Boer asked me: What is the biggest challenge during my PhD?
The first thing that comes to mind is the Dutch language. Even with my intermediate knowledge of the language, I sometimes need help. I am hoping to learn more with each passing day (thanks to my colleagues) and overcome this challenge in due time.
That brings me to my question for my colleague Marie-Christine van de Glind: Hey Marie-Christine, what is the best part of your workday?
