Alzheimer's Disease Warning Signs & Symptoms

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• QHow does Alzheimer's disease affect cognitive abilities?

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  A HealthyWomen answered

  Alzheimer's disease—the most common form of dementia in older people—is a degenerative disease of the brain initially characterized by gradual loss of short-term memory and then increasing difficulty performing simple, routine tasks. It starts in one part of the brain and gradually invades other regions. As it progresses, Alzheimer's destroys nerve cells within the brain and the connections between them, leaving behind clumps of proteins called plaques and twisted fibers in brain cells called tangles. Over time, this destruction erodes the most vital abilities of human nature: language, learning, memory and reason.

  The disease progresses at different speeds for every individual, but eventually most people experience disorientation and personality and behavior changes. Communicating with others becomes difficult, and the ability to stay focused and follow directions becomes more challenging. Ultimately, people with Alzheimer's require more and more assistance with activities of daily living and eventually become entirely dependent on others.

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• QWhat are common behavior changes in someone with Alzheimer's disease?

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  A World Federation For Mental Health (WFMH) answered

  Personality and behavior changes are common over the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD) or dementia. Your loved one may:

  • Get upset, worried and angry more easily
  • Act depressed or not interested in things
  • Hide things or believe other people are hiding things
  • Imagine things that aren't there
  • Pace a lot of the time
  • Exhibit unusual sexual behavior
  • Hit you or other people
  • Misunderstand what he or she sees or hears
  • Stop caring about how he or she looks, stop bathing, and want to wear the same clothes every day

  Some of the most difficult aspects of caring for someone with AD or dementia are the changes in behavior or personality. It can be frightening to see your loved one become paranoid or aggressive. Working with your healthcare practitioner to get appropriate medication and assistance in coping with these behaviors is important.

• QHow does Alzheimer's disease affect mood and personality?

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  A Dr. Daniel R. Spogen, MD , Family Medicine, answered on behalf of Univ. of Nev. School of Medicine, Family Medicine

  Alzheimer's disease can affect mood and personality by causing depression, irritability, anger, outbursts or hallucinations, especially in the later stages. This can be extremely hard on caregivers, especially if people with Alzheimer's behave very differently than they did before the disease. Caregivers can feel as if they are caring for a whole different person.

• QHow can Alzheimer's disease affect emotional response?

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  A Dr. Daniel R. Spogen, MD , Family Medicine, answered on behalf of Univ. of Nev. School of Medicine, Family Medicine

  Alzheimer's disease can affect emotional response in a number of ways. Early Alzheimer's might cause symptoms of irritability, anxiety or depression. Later on, a person might not recognize loved ones, or might not be able to follow a conversation and might have an inappropriate response because of this. Sometimes these symptoms can be treated with medications such as antidepressants.

• QWhat are the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease?

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  A NorthShore University HealthSystem answered

  The most common symptoms associated with Alzheimer's disease are memory loss, disorientation and an inability to reason. Some people may also develop insomnia or even begin to hallucinate. Over time, the symptoms worsen until those affected by the disease can no longer take care of themselves.
  Eventually, Alzheimer's disease will result in complete memory loss. There are several other symptoms to look out for as well:

  • Changes in personality
  • Trouble using language
  • Trouble performing routine daily tasks
  • An inability to think abstractly
  • Loss of judgment

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• QWhat are some early signs of Alzheimer's?

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  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  When it comes to brain problems, it's not easy to diagnose yourself or a loved one. Yes, you'd like to write off a memory lapse as a natural part of aging, and in many instances, it is. But this checklist of the seven early signs of Alzheimer's can help you decide whether you or a family member needs further attention. Do you:
  

  • Ask the same questions over and over?
  • Repeat the same story over and over (and not because your kids are tuning you out yet again)?
  • Forget how to do something that you normally can do easily?
  • Get lost in familiar surroundings?
  • Misplace things often?
  • Neglect to bathe?
  • Rely on someone else to make decisions you'd normally make yourself? (Not applicable to men married more than a decade.)

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• QWhat's the difference between signs of Alzheimer's and normal aging?

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  A Shelley Webb , Nursing, answered

  It’s estimated that more than 10 million senior citizens require some level of help in their daily living, ranging from simple chores to more complex caretaking. Many of these people will suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, but for others, difficulties arise from the typical age-related changes many of us will face eventually. Understanding which is the case for your loved one is the first step to deciding which services will benefit your aging family member most.
  
  One sign of Alzheimer’s disease is poor judgment and decision making, for example, giving large sums of money to telemarketers. On the other hand, a typical age-related change involves making a bad decision once in a while.
  
  The inability to manage a budget after years of doing so may signal Alzheimer’s, especially when bills are repeatedly unpaid or the person has no knowledge of his checkbook balance. Missing a monthly payment occasionally is more closely associated with typical aging.
  
  People with Alzheimer’s can lose track of dates, seasons and the passage of time, or may forget where they are or how they got there. On the other hand, many of us will forget what day it is occasionally, but we figure it out later and don’t usually experience the confusion someone with Alzheimer’s may.
  
  While many elderly (and some not so elderly) will have trouble finding the right word at times, people with Alzheimer’s may have trouble following or joining a conversation. They may stop in the middle of a sentence and have no idea how to continue. They may struggle with vocabulary, have problems finding the right word, or call things by the wrong name.
  
  People with Alzheimer’s may put things in unusual places or lose things and be unable to go back over their steps to find them again. This happens with increasing frequency and involves much more than simply misplacing the television remote once in a while, which is more typical of common aging.

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• QHow effective is the at-home SAGE Test at predicting Alzheimer's symptoms?

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  A Dr. Richard S. Isaacson, MD , Neurology, answered

  

  The at-home SAGE Test is pretty effective when it comes to detecting early stage Alzheimer's symptoms. In this video, neurologist Richard Isaacson, MD, explains why it's important to bring the results to a doctor for further testing and screening.
• QHow do the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease typically progress?

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  A Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD , Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), answered

  Symptoms of Alzheimer's start out with forgetfulness (usually spotted when a person cannot remember the way home when in the neighborhood). A person may lose short-term memory-often telling you a story from their past multiple times in 15 minutes.
  
  It then progresses to the point in which the person forgets major recent events (such as a presidential election) or recent things about themselves (such as a birthday celebration). Sadly, the person will continue to become more disoriented and confused until they can't remember their family members' names or faces, or their own.
  
  Even in advanced stages, however, many people with Alzheimer's will still be able to remember remote events because long-term memory is the last to disappear.

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• QHow does Alzheimer's disease affect memory?

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  A Dr. John H. Growdon, MD , Neurology, answered

  Progressive memory loss is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Initially, only short-term memory for recent events is impaired, and the person merely seems forgetful. But because short-term memory is essential for absorbing new information, the impairment soon interferes with the ability to interact socially and perform one's work. Long-term memory may be retained longer, often in great detail, but it becomes fragmented as the disease progresses. Toward the final stage, people with Alzheimer's may be unable to recall their own names.

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