What are some early signs of Alzheimer's?

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, here are 10 common warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease:

• Memory loss that disrupts daily life
• Challenges in planning or solving problems
• Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure
• Confusion with time or place
• Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
• New problems with words in speaking or writing
• Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
• Decreased or poor judgment
• Withdrawal from work or social activities
• Changes in mood and personality

Ten Warning signs of Alzheimer's Disease include:

• Memory loss that disrupts your daily life
• Challenges inplanning or solving problems
• Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, work or leisure
• Confusion with time or place
• Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
• New problems with words in speaking or writing
• Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace your steps
• Decreased or poor judgement
• Withdrawal from work or social activities
• Changes in mood or personality

For more detailed information, you can visit the Alzheimer's Association website at www.alz.org

Progressive mental deterioration, loss of memory and cognitive functions, and an inabilityto carry out activities of daily life are the characteristic symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

A family doctor who has seen a person regularly for years can recognize subtle changes as the warning signs of dementia, defined as the progressive decline in cognitive function due to disease and beyond normal aging. Ask yourself these questions and see your doctor for a complete evaluation if you or a loved one answers yes to several of them or is worried about Alzheimer’s disease (AD):

• Does the person have a memory loss problem? Look for a worsening pattern of forgetting, especially of recently learned information.
• Does the person have difficulty performing familiar tasks? Suddenly you or your loved one can't do routine tasks, such as reading the car's fuel gauge, figuring out which coins to give to the store clerk, or preparing a favorite recipe.
• Does the person have language problems? We all grope for words occasionally, but someone with AD frequently has a greater difficulty when describing commonplace objects such as a table, a toaster, or a toothbrush.
• Is the person often disoriented about the current time and place? Ask the person for today's date and the time on his or her watch or the hallway clock. A person with the disease may not be able to answer the question. Another sign is a person getting lost in his or her own neighborhood.
• Does the person show poor or decreased judgment? Examples includes making poor financial decisions, wearing sandals in the snow, or wanting to go shopping at two in the morning.
• Does the person have problems with abstract thinking or reasoning? Forgetting how to use numbers, do simple arithmetic, describe objects' appearances, discuss concepts, or solve problems may signal AD.
• Is the person frequently misplacing things?
• Do you notice changes in the person’s mood or behavior? People with AD may demonstrate rapid mood swings and behaviors ranging from sunny calmness to sudden anger to tears for no obvious reason.
• Are there changes in his or her personality? Even the sweetest-tempered person with AD can become agitated, paranoid, irritable, fearful, or highly dependent for no obvious reason.
• Does the person exhibit a loss of initiative? Alzheimer's disease can cause passivity, depression, and reluctance to do much of anything.

The first manifestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is usually memory loss. Later, the disease progresses to other areas of the brain involved in learning, processing, reasoning, and other functions.

The disease generally progresses through three stages -- mild, moderate, and severe. Each stage is associated with specific symptoms of dementia or symptom severity.

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Here are some common warning signs of Alzheimer's disease. If you or someone you love is experiencing one or more of the following symptoms, talk to a doctor. The medications used to manage Alzheimer's disease work best in the early stages of the disease, making an early diagnosis significant:

• Trouble remembering things: At first, only short-term memory may be affected. The individual may forget an appointment or the name of a new acquaintance. She may also forget where she left things, or she may leave things in odd places (for example, putting her shoes in the microwave). Eventually, long-term memory also is impaired, and the individual may not recognize family members.
• Mood or personality changes: Someone who was social and outgoing may become withdrawn. The person may also become stubborn, distrustful, angry, or sad. Depression also often accompanies Alzheimer's disease, bringing such symptoms as loss of interest in a favorite hobby or activity, a change in appetite, insomnia or sleeping too much, lack of energy, and hopelessness.
• Trouble completing ordinary tasks: Simple tasks that once caused no difficulty may become much more challenging. For example, a person may forget how to use the oven, lock the door, or get dressed.
• Difficulty expressing thoughts: It's common for people with Alzheimer's disease to have trouble with language. The individual may try describing an object rather than using its name -- for example, referring to the telephone as "the ringer" or "that thing I call people with." Reading or writing may also be impaired.
• Impaired judgment: The individual might have trouble making decisions, solving problems, or planning. For example, he may no longer be able to balance a checkbook or pay bills.
• Disorientation: We all know what it's like to be driving and momentarily forget where we're going. But those with Alzheimer's disease may get lost in their own neighborhood. They may also lose track of dates and the time.
• Unusual behavior: The individual may wander, become agitated, hide things, wear too few or too many clothes, become overly suspicious, engage in unsafe behaviors, or use foul language.