Early Symptoms Of Alzheimers

What Are The Symptoms of
Alzheimer's Disease?

The most common early symptoms of Alzheimers disease are gradual loss of short-term memory and shorter attention span.
Other signs include:

• Problems finding or speaking the right word.
• Inability to recognize objects.
• Forgetting how to use simple, ordinary things, such as a pencil.
• Forgetting to turn off the stove, close windows, or lock doors.

Mood and personality changes also may occur. Agitation, problems with memory, and poor judgment may cause unusual behavior. These symptoms vary from one person to the next.

Symptoms appear gradually in persons with Alzheimer's disease but may progress more slowly in some persons than in others. In other forms of dementia, symptoms may appear suddenly or may come and go.

If you have some of these signs, this does not mean you have Alzheimer's disease. Anyone can have a lapse of memory or show poor judgment now and then. When such lapses become frequent or dangerous, however, you should tell your doctor about them immediately.

Signs To Be Aware Of

Alzheimer's Disease is a tragic illness that takes away from victims and their families years of happiness by slowly destroying the mind and personality of the person tormented. Though there is no cure yet, there are drugs available to treat symptoms and delay progression of Alzheimer's if it is diagnosed early.

Being aware of the early symptoms of Alzheimers is the best way to catch it in its early stages. These are possible early symptoms of Alzheimers:

• Memory Loss
  Watch for memory loss, one of the first signs of the disease. The loss associated with early Alzheimer's affects short term memory, things that recently happened. for example not remembering that they ate lunch an hour ago. Another indicator may be that they are increasingly and persistently misplacing everyday objects like glasses or keys. Or putting the items in unusual places, like the refrigerator.

• Losing Common Words
  The inability to think of the word for common items like a spoon or hairbrush may also occur. This is not the same as being at a temporary loss of a descriptive word for something. The person no longer knows what the object is called. Speech and understanding become slower and they may lose their train of thought in mid sentence.

• Shorter Attention Span
  Difficulty learning new things and making new memories is another indicator. There is a shorter attention span, one may ask repetitive questions, and resists change. They also have trouble organizing their thoughts and thinking logically.

• Simple Everyday Tasks
  Being unable to perform simple everyday tasks as effortlessly as they once did is another early symptom of Alzheimers. Your loved one may take longer doing routine things and becomes agitated if rushed. He or she may also get lost easily, even going to familiar places. Also sleep patterns can become disturbed.

• Behavioral Changes
  One of the earliest changes might be a loss of interest in life or things once enjoyed. Less energy, a lack of spontaneity, emotional outbursts, and unprovoked enmity are other symptoms. The individual may also experience a loss of inhibition causing behavior such as undressing in public or making inappropriate remarks.

• Paranoid Behavior
  The loss of the ability to judge time and space and what's going on around them can contribute to paranoid behavior.
  Other signs can include:

  • going outside in their pyjamas,
  • neglect of personal grooming and hygiene,
  • accusing people of stealing/moving/hiding belongings.

Be Careful

The symptoms listed above are associated with dementia. Mild dementia can be early symptoms of Alzheimers disease, but could also be symptoms of other illnesses, including:

• dehydration,
• vitamin deficiency,
• thyroid problems and
• reaction to medicines

Just because you forget things (car keys, water bottle, etc.) does not mean you have Alzheimer's disease. Check with a doctor if you think you have Alzheimer's.

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