Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) impacts 25 million adults worldwide and an additional 200,000 people younger than 65 are affected.
Although many factors have been identified which might increase the risk of developing AD, no cause or causes have been definitively named. Despite advances in treatment, there is no known cure.
It’s important to understand how AD differs from more “normal” age-related changes which we experience. For many, it helps to ease the mind who might be concerned about their health, and for others, it will prompt them to seek the help needed to navigate this challenging condition.
Here’s the list of the “10 Early Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s” compared with typical, age-related changes we all might experience:
- Memory loss which disrupts daily life such as forgetting significant events or asking for the same information over and over versus sometimes forgetting names or appointments, but recalling later.
- Challenges in planning or solving problems such as the inability to follow a plan, work with numbers of follow a familiar recipe versus an occasional error in balancing the checkbook.
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, work or leisure such as driving to familiar places, or remembering the rules of a frequently played game versus trouble recording a TV show or learning to use new devices and equipment.
- Confusion with time or place, not knowing where you are, how you got there, the date or the season versus some confusion about the day of the week.
- New problems with works in speaking including being over repetitious versus trouble finding the “right” word
Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps including putting things in unusual places or accusing others of stealing things versus retracing steps to find lost items
- Decreased or poor judgement including poor financial decisions and less interest in grooming versus making a bad decision once in a while.
- Withdrawal from social activities such as forgetting how to do a favorite hobby versus just feeling more fatigue from work, family or social obligations.
- Changes in mood and personality. May exhibit confusion, suspicion, depression or anxiety versus becoming irritable when there’s a change in routine.
Perspective is important here. As we get older, many experience short term memory loss. Ex: We remember what we wore to our high school prom, but can’t recall what we had for lunch yesterday.
All of the symptoms listed are a matter of degree, the most important being the impact they have on daily life. If you think something is a problem, it might be, and you should check it out with your healthcare provider.