Alzheimers Symptoms

Alzheimers: Tricky to Diagnose

Alzheimers symptoms and signs are unique on each patient. Through that it sometimes will be tricky to diagnose Alzheimers disease.
Several of the signs and symptoms present in Alzheimer's disease also exist in other conditions and diseases.

Alzheimer's disease is classified into several stages. Some doctors use a 7-stage framework, while others may use a 4, 5 or 6-stage one.

A common framework includes 1. Pre-Dementia Stage. 2. Mild Alzheimer's Stage. 3. Moderate Alzheimer's Stage. 4. Severe Alzheimer's Stage. The example below is of a 7-stage framework. In stage 7 Alzheimers symptoms are most severe.

What Are the Alzheimers Symptoms?

• Memory Loss
  The first striking of Alzheimers symptoms is forgetfulness severe enough to affect patients ability to function at home or at work, or to enjoy lifelong hobbies.
• Difficulty Performing Familiar Tasks
  Busy people can be so distracted from time to time that they may leave the carrots on the stove and only remember to serve them at the end of a meal. A person with Alzheimer's disease may have trouble with tasks that have been familiar to them all their lives, such as preparing a meal.
• Abstract Thinking
  Balancing a chequebook may be hard when the task is more complicated than usual. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease, however, might forget what the numbers are and what needs to be done with them.
• Disorientation
  It’s normal to forget the day of the week or where you are going, but people with Alzheimer’s disease can become lost on the street where they live, forget where they are and how they got there, and not know how to get back home.
• Initiative
  People often tire of housework, business activities or social obligations at times. However, a person with Alzheimer’s disease may become excessively passive, sitting in front of the television for hours, sleeping more than usual or not doing usual activities.
• Judgment
  No one has perfect judgment all the time, but those with Alzheimer’s disease may dress without regard to the weather, for instance wearing several shirts on a warm day. Individuals with dementia often show poor judgment about money, giving away large amounts to telemarketers or paying for repairs or products they don’t need.
• Language
  All of us have trouble finding the right word from time to time, but people with Alzheimer’s disease often forget simple words or substitute unusual words, making their speech or writing hard to understand. If a person with Alzheimer’s disease is unable to find a toothbrush, for example, they may ask for “that thing for my mouth”.
• Misplacing Items
  Anyone can temporarily misplace a wallet or key. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places: an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl.
• Mood Changes
  Everyone can become sad or moody from time to time. However, someone with Alzheimer’s disease can show rapid mood swings (from calm to tears to anger) for no apparent reason.
• Personality
  Personalities ordinarily change somewhat with age but a person with Alzheimer’s disease may have a severe personality change, becoming extremely confused, suspicious, fearful or dependent on a family member.

Impairment of the Senses

Other Alzheimers symptoms consist of causing changes in a person’s ability to interpret what he or she can see, hear, taste, feel, or smell. The person with Alzheimer's should be evaluated periodically by a physician for any such changes that may be correctable with glasses, dentures, hearing aids, or other devices.

• Vision
  People with Alzheimer's may experience a number of changes in visual abilities. People with Alzheimer's may no longer be able to interpret accurately what they see because of brain changes. Also, their sense of perception and depth may be altered. These changes can cause safety concerns.
• Smell
  A loss of or decrease in smell often accompanies Alzheimer's disease. Therefore install smoke detectors and check them frequently. The person with Alzheimer's disease may not smell smoke or may not associate it with danger.
• Taste
  People with Alzheimer's may lose taste sensitivity. As their judgment declines, they also may place dangerous or inappropriate things in their mouths. (This concerns: salt, sugar, or spice, but also toothpaste, perfume, lotions, shampoos, rubbing alcohol, and soap, which may look and smell like food to the person with Alzheimer's.
• Touch
  People with Alzheimer's may experience loss of sensation or may no longer be able to interpret feelings of heat, cold, or discomfort.
• Hearing
  People with Alzheimer's disease may have normal hearing, but they may lose their ability to interpret what they hear accurately. This loss may result in confusion or overstimulation.

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