Warning Signs of Alzheimers

Alzheimer's disease, also called senile dementia of the Alzheimer type, is the most frequent form of dementia. This degenerative disease is typically diagnosed in people 65 and above, but early-onset Alzheimer's can occur as early in life as the mid-40s. Because Alzheimer's is so prevalent in the older population, many of its symptoms are erroneously believed to be signs of old age. The symptoms of Alzheimer's interfere with normal day-to-day life. The earliest indication is short-term-memory loss. As the disease progresses, patients suffer from confusion, irrational mood swings, aggression, depression and long-term-memory loss. Eventually, speech is affected and can ultimately become incomprehensible, as though a patient has reverted back to infancy and is cooing. Many people find relief from some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's with prescription medication and herbal supplements, but there is no concrete cure to date.

Memory Loss

• The first visible sign of someone suffering from Alzheimer's is their inability to remember things recently learned, such as a name or the day of the week. Sometimes the brain will revisit a time earlier in life, causing confusion as to the actual year or season. Another warning sign is if the person asks for the same information repeatedly. Occasionally, a person suffering from Alzheimer's will forget names and similar details but will remember them later.

Concentration

• Concentrating is difficult for people afflicted with Alzheimer's. They will have remarkable difficulty reading and comprehending. Even watching television may seem frustrating. They may have trouble following recipes or keeping track of bills---what used to be a quick process will now take much longer than before. Alzheimer's sufferers may have trouble carrying on a conversation due to their lack of concentration or inability to remember vocabulary.

Difficulty Completing Familiar Tasks

• It is very common for people with Alzheimer's to have difficulty completing familiar tasks, such as driving. Alzheimer's patients frequently get lost, even on roads they've used their entire lives. Remembering rules to card games they've played since childhood can be challenging. The common sufferer misplaces things frequently. As the disease worsens, this will inevitably get worse.

Vision

• For some sufferers, vision problems are a sign. Reading, judging distance and determining color can be tricky. Because Alzheimer's sufferers may mistake the present for an earlier time, many of them do not recognize their older selves in the mirror. They remember their younger face and body and will think that someone else is in the room with them when they pass a mirror.

Mood and Personality

• Due to changes in mood and personality, many Alzheimer's patients withdraw from work or social activities. They can become depressed by their situation or suspicious or confused by the "new" people surrounding them. Hygiene habits may change; Alzheimer's sufferers often neglect to bathe or wear the same clothes for too long. And they may even argue that they have bathed and are wearing new clothes.

Diagnosis

• Diagnosing Alzheimer's is not straightforward. As prevalent as it is, Alzheimer's can often go unrecognized in the early stages. A series of brain scans, behavioral assessments and cognitive tests are performed to identify the disease, but a true conclusion cannot be identified until after death, when the brain can be intimately studied for certain minute transformations caused by the disease. However, doctors can now generally diagnose Alzheimer's disease with almost 90 percent precision.