The ten signs of Alzheimer's disease:
1. Memory loss that impairs daily life:
One of the most common symptoms of Alzheimer's disease is the inability to remember recent events. Other symptoms include forgetting important events and appointments; repeatedly asking the same question even after receiving the answer; relying on memory aids (such as paper or electronic notes); or depending on family members for tasks the patient previously performed independently.
What is normal? Forgetting names or important appointments sometimes, but remembering them later.
2. Difficulties and challenges in planning and problem-solving:
Some people may experience changes in their ability to plan and manage their daily lives or work with numbers and calculations. They may have trouble following simple, familiar routines or balancing their finances. They may also find it difficult to concentrate and take significantly longer to complete tasks they used to do.
What is normal? Making occasional mistakes in balancing the accounts?
What is normal? Making occasional mistakes in balancing the accounts?
People with Alzheimer's often find it difficult to complete their daily tasks. They may struggle with driving to familiar places, balancing their ledger and financial transactions at work, or remembering the rules of their favorite sport.
What is normal? Sometimes asking for help with how to operate a microwave oven or with recording a TV movie.
4. Mental confusion regarding time or place:
Alzheimer's patients may lose the ability to recognize dates, seasons, and the passage of time. They may find it difficult to comprehend an event unless it has just occurred. Sometimes they may completely forget where they are and how they got there.
What is normal? Confusion and mixing up in determining the day of the week, but the person recalls the day's name immediately afterward.
5. Difficulty in interpreting visual images and determining distances:
Vision problems may be a sign of Alzheimer's disease in some individuals. These individuals may have difficulty reading, judging distances, and distinguishing colors or their reflections. Regarding visual perception and processing, a person with Alzheimer's may pass by a mirror and mistakenly believe there is someone else in the room. Often, the person cannot recognize their own reflection in the mirror.
What is normal? Changes in the eye's visual abilities due to cataracts: cataracts
6. New problems in choosing the right words in dialogue and writing:
People with Alzheimer's may find it difficult to follow or participate in an ongoing conversation or discussion. They may suddenly stop talking mid-conversation and then be unable to continue, or they may repeat the same sentences over and over again. They may also struggle to find the right words or misname objects (e.g., calling a clock an alarm clock).
What is normal? Sometimes it's difficult to find the right words.
7. Placing things in the wrong places and losing the ability to track them.
A person with Alzheimer's may misplace things, lose them, and be unable to recall how to find them. Sometimes, the person may accuse others of stealing their belongings. This behavior may become recurrent over time.
What is normal? Placing things in places other than their usual ones and consequently losing them for a while, such as glasses or a remote control.
8. Lack of an opinion barrier:
Alzheimer's patients experience changes in their judgment and decision-making. For example, they may make poor decisions or incorrect judgments regarding their financial transactions and spend excessive amounts of money on television shopping. They may also neglect their personal hygiene and appearance.
What is normal? Making a bad decision once in a while.
9. Social isolation:
Patients experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease may begin to withdraw, refraining from engaging in their favorite hobbies or usual social activities such as visiting family and friends or participating in recreational or sporting events at work or at home. They may also find it difficult to follow their favorite sport, cheer on their team, or even remember the rules for completing their favorite hobby. This withdrawal may be a choice they make as they recognize the changes in their lifestyle and the difficulty of adapting to them.
What is normal? Feeling bored and fed up with work and some family and social obligations.
10. Mood and personality changes:
A person with Alzheimer's may become confused, disoriented, suspicious, frustrated, depressed, fearful, and apprehensive. They can also become easily agitated at home, at work, or in places outside their usual safe environment.
What is normal? Sensitivity when the usual routine is broken.
If you or someone close to you experiences any of these symptoms, consult a doctor immediately.
