Signs Of Mild Alzheimers Disease
In mild Alzheimers disease, a person may seem to be healthy but has more and more trouble making sense of the world around him or her. The realization that something is wrong often comes gradually to the person and his or her family. Problems can include:
- Memory loss
- Poor judgment leading to bad decisions
- Loss of spontaneity and sense of initiative
- Taking longer to complete normal daily tasks
- Repeating questions
- Increased sleeping
- Loss of bowel and bladder control
A common cause of death for people with Alzheimers disease is aspiration pneumonia. This type of pneumonia develops when a person cannot swallow properly and takes food or liquids into the lungs instead of air.
There is currently no cure for Alzheimers, though there are medicines that can treat the symptoms of the disease.
Withdrawal From Usual Activities
Apathy, lack of interest, and withdrawal from people and activities around you can be indicative of early dementia.
Examples include no longer following a favorite sports team, being apathetic about spending time with treasured grandchildren, giving up knitting or woodworking, and skipping the monthly get-togethers with good friends.
What it’s not: Needing a longer break between activities or occasionally feeling overloaded with obligations.
Time And Place Become Confusing
People sometimes forget the day of the week it is, and this is not unusual as things like stress, work, and a lot of activity tend to make us forget the day of the week. Losing track of dates altogether, not recognizing seasons of the year and not knowing what year it is are all troubling warning signs of early dementia. Forgetting where one is or how one got there is also a red flag for dementia-related memory loss and possibly more cognitive issues in the future.
Don’t Miss: Bob Knight Dementia
Difficulty Determining Time Or Place
Losing track of dates and misunderstanding the passage of time as it occurs are also two common symptoms. Planning for future events can become difficult since they arent immediately occurring.
As symptoms progress, people with AD can become increasingly forgetful about where they are, how they got there, or why theyre there.
New Problems With Words In Speaking Or Writing
People with Alzheimers may have trouble following or joining a conversation. They may stop in the middle of a conversation and have no idea how to continue or they may repeat themselves. They may struggle with vocabulary, have problems finding the right word, or call things by the wrong name . Whats typical? Sometimes having trouble finding the right word.
You May Like: Alzheimer’s Awareness Color
Challenges With Planning And Problem
Some people with Alzheimers experience changes in their ability to plan and problem-solve. Concentrating becomes more of a challenge, and, as a result, it takes longer to do everything than it did before. One of the most prominent signs is finding it hard to work with numbers, for example, making mistakes on recipe measurements or bill payments.
Conditions With Symptoms Similar To Dementia
Remember that many conditions have symptoms similar to dementia, so it is important not to assume that someone has dementia just because some of the above symptoms are present. Strokes, depression, excessive long-term alcohol consumption, infections, hormonal disorders, nutritional deficiencies and brain tumours can all cause dementia-like symptoms. Many of these conditions can be treated.
Also Check: Does Ben Carson Have Dementia
Symptoms Of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Some people have a condition called mild cognitive impairment, or MCI. It can be an early sign of Alzheimers. But, not everyone with MCI will develop Alzheimers disease. People with MCI can still take care of themselves and do their normal activities. MCI memory problems may include:
- Losing things often
- Forgetting to go to events or appointments
- Having more trouble coming up with words than other people the same age
Learn more about Alzheimer’s disease from MedlinePlus.
Dr Henriette Smith November 2017
Do Memory Problems Always Mean Alzheimer’s Disease?
You can’t find your keys or you forget an appointment. For many people in middle age or older, simple acts of forgetfulness like these are scary because they raise the specter of Alzheimer’s disease. But not all people with memory problems have Alzheimer’s.
Forgetfulness 7 types of normal memory problems
Healthy people can experience memory loss too
It’s normal to forget things from time to time, and it’s normal to become somewhat more forgetful as you age. But how much forgetfulness is too much? How can you tell whether your memory lapses is normal forgetfulness and within the scope of normal aging or are a symptom of something more serious?
Healthy people can experience memory loss or memory distortion at any age. Some of these memory flaws become more pronounced with age, but unless they are extreme and persistent they are not considered indicators of Alzheimer’s or other memory-impairing illnesses.
Seven normal memory problems
1. Transience
This is the tendency to forget facts or events over time. You are most likely to forget information soon after you learn it. However, memory has a use-it-or-lose-it quality: memories that are called up and used frequently are least likely to be forgotten. Although transience might seem like a sign of memory weakness, brain scientists regard it as beneficial because it clears the brain of unused memories, making way for newer, more useful ones.
2. Absentmindedness
3. Blocking
Also Check: Farts Help Prevent Cancer
Yes You Get It Right Alzheimers May Be The Cause
Although there are plenty of other conditions affecting memory, Alzheimers is the most common one, especially in the elderly.
In an effort to raise awareness about this condition, this World Alzheimers Day, we bring the details for uncovering the signs of Alzheimer affecting your mental sharpness or maybe your loved ones.
Recognizing The 10 Warning Signs Of Alzheimers Disease
Most of us have heard of Alzheimers before. Yet myths surrounding this disease still abound. Do you think you would be able to detect the signs of Alzheimers in yourself or a loved one?
While there is currently no treatment, early detection allows those affected to get the care, support and medications they need to better manage the disease early detection also gives them more time to make the various legal, financial and medical decisions that are required.
Since family members are usually the first ones to notice changes in a loved ones behaviour, it is important for all of us to be informed about Alzheimers disease.
Recommended Reading: Alzheimer’s Purple Color Code
Early Warning Signs Of Alzheimers Disease
Each person is unique and may experience symptoms differently, but common warning signs and symptoms of Alzheimers disease can include:
1. Memory loss that affects daily life
Changes in short-term memory that disrupt routine activities or job skills forgetting important dates or events repeatedly asking the same questions relying on memory aids or other people to remember things.
2. Difficulty completing familiar tasks
Having problems with routine tasks at home, work or during recreational activities examples could include difficulty with cooking, driving, using a cell phone or shopping.
3. Challenges with problem-solving or planning
Having trouble working through processes they have done consistently, for a long time examples could include paying bills or cooking recipes they have used for years.
4. New problems with vocabulary when speaking or writing
Having trouble following or joining a conversation, or struggling to find the right word when trying to name a familiar object.
5. Confusion or disorientation to time and place
Losing track of dates, seasons and the passage of time forgetting where they are located at a given time, or how they got there.
6. Withdrawal from normal activities
Not wanting to participate in normal work, family or social activities examples could include avoiding going to church, not being able to follow football games, movies or keep up with what is happening.
7. Personality or mood changes
9. Diminished or poor judgment
Contact Us
The Seven Stages Of Dementia
One of the most difficult things to hear about dementia is that, in most cases, dementia is irreversible and incurable. However, with an early diagnosis and proper care, the progression of some forms of dementia can be managed and slowed down. The cognitive decline that accompanies dementia conditions does not happen all at once – the progression of dementia can be divided into seven distinct, identifiable stages.
Learning about the stages of dementia can help with identifying signs and symptoms early on, as well as assisting sufferers and caretakers in knowing what to expect in further stages. The earlier dementia is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can start.
Also Check: What Color Represents Alzheimer’s
Signs Of Alzheimers Disease
According to the Alzheimers Association, Alzheimers disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States and every 65 seconds someone develops the disease.
Theyve created a helpful infographic with 10 Signs of Alzheimers Disease, so you and your team can identify the symptoms to begin treatment for those in your care as early as possible.
Did you know that more than 16 million Americans provide unpaid care for those with some form of dementia? Until more effective treatments or a cure is found, these facts show that the demand for quality paid and unpaid caregivers will continue to increase quickly in the years to come. In order to provide the care needed, its important for all caregivers to be able to identify and understand the signs of Alzheimers disease.
Here are the top 5 as a start, but be sure to download the 10 Signs of Alzheimers infographic and post it in your care stations for a quick reminder of what to look for.
The most common early signs of Alzheimers disease:
1. Forgetting Recently Learned Information
- Forgetting important dates or events
- Asking for the same information over and over
- Relying more on memory aides, like notes, electronic reminders or family members for things that they handled on their own before
2. Challenges in Planning or Problem Solving
- Trouble working with numbers
- Unable to keep track of monthly bills
- Hard time concentrating
- Taking longer to do things than they did before
3. Difficulty Completing Familiar Tasks
Signs And Symptoms Of Alzheimers Disease
Alzheimers disease is a mental condition that worsen progressively. It will gradually make people forget things, including the most basic information. It can also impair the patients ability to perform everyday tasks.
Alzheimers disease happens due to the buildup of proteins in the brain, making it impossible for the nerves to function properly, which then leads to memory loss and some other symptoms. Here are 10 common signs and symptoms of Alzheimers disease.
Recommended Reading: Did Reagan Have Alzheimer’s In Office
Speaking And Writing Becomes Challenging
While we all may experience a time when we just cant find the right word to use in a conversation with others, not knowing what the word means can spell trouble. Struggling to stay in a conversation, taking turns in communicating, repeating ones self and using words in the wrong context are all tell-tale signs of Alzheimers-related memory loss.
The 10 Signs Of Alzheimers Disease
If you lay your car keys down in a different place than usual but retrace your steps to find them, you are probably experiencing an age-related change. If you lay your car keys down in a different place than usual and blame someone else for moving them or stealing them, you may have Alzheimers.
Thats just one of the bizarre little mind tricks that can occur when you have Alzheimers disease, according to Leah Challberg, a counselor with the Alzheimers Association of Minnesota. Challberg, who is also the lead pastor at Northeast United Methodist Church, outlined the ten signs of Alzheimers at a Dec. 5 presentation at Community United Methodist Church, Columbia Heights. About 30 attended the one-hour session.
She started out with some facts: Alzheimers dementia affects 5.7 million Americans, and ten percent of people over the age of 65 have it. Of the people who have Alzheimers, the majority are over age 75. The first brain changes due to Alzheimers can appear as early as 20 years before the first symptoms set in. Alzheimers is just one of 100 kinds of memory loss, and it is the most common form of dementia. Its a slow decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills that results in the loss of brain cells and function.
People with blood circulation problems, diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure may be at risk for developing Alzheimers.
7) Misplacing things and losing the ability to track them down. As time goes on, this behavior may increase.
Also Check: Alzheimer Vs Dementia Vs Senility
Final Thoughts On The Warning Signs Of Alzheimers Disease
Alzheimers disease has been called a lot of things. Its a neurodegenerative disorder. It is incurable and difficult to treat. It is an irreversible disease that will only get worse. Alzheimers disease is the long goodbye. Regardless of how we describe this disease, it is critical to be on the lookout for early warning signs both in ones self and in people close to us.
A major takeaway is that catching early warning signs must be communicated to a healthcare provider as soon as possible. Early detection leads to more treatment options and better health outcomes for the individual diagnosed with Alzheimers as well as their circle of friends and family members. Everyone benefits from early detection.
Warning Signs Of Alzheimers Disease
As we age, there will undoubtedly be some small gaps and failures in our memory, but this is completely normal and should not be cause for alarm. Losing the keys, misplacing an important document or forgetting about an appointment every now and then are not as concerning as forgetting what the keys are used for, understanding what the document says or remembering that we have a doctor.
Watch for These Signs
The following signs and symptoms of Alzheimers-related memory loss may be first noticed by the individual experiencing memory loss or by close friends or family members. Either way, if you or someone you know exhibits one or more of these 10 warning signs, it may be time to seek medical attention. Early detection has been shown in research to lead to wider treatment options and better health outcomes.
Read Also: What Color Ribbon Is Alzheimer’s
Stage : Age Associated Memory Impairment
This stage features occasional lapses of memory most frequently seen in:
- Forgetting where one has placed an object
- Forgetting names that were once very familiar
Oftentimes, this mild decline in memory is merely normal age-related cognitive decline, but it can also be one of the earliest signs of degenerative dementia. At this stage, signs are still virtually undetectable through clinical testing. Concern for early onset of dementia should arise with respect to other symptoms.
Difficulty Completing Familiar Tasks
Some people may experience a greater problem with concentration. Routine day-to-day tasks requiring critical thought may take longer as the disease progresses.
The ability to drive safely may also be called into question. If you or a loved one gets lost while driving a commonly traveled route, this may be a symptom of AD.
Read Also: Mri Alzheimer’s Vs Normal
What Are The Early Signs Of Dementia
Symptoms of dementia are caused by changes in the brain changes that can begin years before early dementia signs present themselves. There are three general stages for Alzheimer’s mild , moderate , and severe . The speed at which a patient moves through these stages varies, but progression of the symptoms themselves follows a fairly standardized path.
The most common early dementia symptoms are forgetfulness and short-term memory loss. Patients may forget where they left something or have trouble recalling the details of a conversation, but long-term memory and the remembering of important dates or events is typically unaffected in early stages of dementia.
As the symptoms of Alzheimer’s progress, patients become increasingly confused about simple facts such as time or place and may have difficulty concentrating they can still complete regular tasks, but concentrating may take longer than usual.
Over time, symptoms of dementia may include frequently misplacing objects and an increased difficulty completing daily tasks. Patients are more likely to lose things and may have trouble retracing their steps to find them. This sometimes progresses to feelings of paranoia or accusations of theft when the patient cannot find something they unknowingly misplaced. Patients may also start to have trouble with daily tasks such as driving, cooking, or engaging in hobbies. Changes in vision and depth perception may also lead to increased clumsiness, falls, and other accidents.
Where To Get Help
- Your local community health centre
- National Dementia Helpline Dementia Australia Tel. 1800 100 500
- Aged Care Assessment Services Tel. 1300 135 090
- My Aged Care 1800 200 422
- Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service clinics Tel. 1300 135 090
- Carers Victoria Tel. 1800 242 636
- Commonwealth Carelink and Respite Centres Australian Government Tel. 1800 052 222
- Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Service Tel. 1800 699 799 for 24-hour telephone advice for carers and care workers
Recommended Reading: What Color Is Alzheimer’s Awareness Ribbon
Early Signs Of Alzheimers Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is known to be the most common cause of dementia in older adults. Affected individuals rarely show symptoms before 50 years of age. Hence, this is common among senior family members like our aging parents or grandparents.
The incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease increases with age, and the probability of being diagnosed with it roughly doubles every five years.
However, Alzheimer’s disease is more than just a statistic.
How Is Alzheimers Disease Diagnosed
Talk to a doctor if you or a loved one is finding it increasingly difficult to perform day-to-day tasks, or if you or a loved one is experiencing increased memory loss. They may refer you to a doctor who specializes in AD.
Theyll conduct a medical exam and a neurological exam to aid in the diagnosis. They may also choose to complete an imaging test of your brain. They can only make a diagnosis after the medical evaluation is completed.
Theres no cure for AD at this time. The symptoms of AD can sometimes be treated with medications meant to help improve memory loss or decrease sleeping difficulties.
Research is still being done on possible alternative treatments.
Don’t Miss: Ribbon Color For Alzheimer’s