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Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease
What are the Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease?
Alzheimer's Disease begins slowly. At first, the only symptom may be mild forgetfulness,
which can be confused with age-related memory change. Most people
with mild forgetfulness do not have Alzheimer's Disease. In the early stage of Alzheimer's Disease,
people may have trouble remembering recent events, activities, or
the names of familiar people or things. They may not be able to
solve simple math problems. Such difficulties may be a bother, but
usually they are not serious enough to cause alarm.
However, as the disease goes on, symptoms are more easily noticed
and become serious enough to cause people with Alzheimer's Disease or their family
members to seek medical help. Forgetfulness begins to interfere
with daily activities. People in the middle stages of Alzheimer's Disease may forget
how to do simple tasks like brushing their teeth or combing their
hair. They can no longer think clearly. They can fail to recognize
familiar people and places. They begin to have problems speaking,
understanding, reading, or writing. Later on, people with Alzheimer's Disease may
become anxious or aggressive, or wander away from home. Eventually,
patients need total care.
Other Causes of Dementia Symptoms
Many different medical conditions may cause symptoms that seem like
Alzheimer's disease, but are not. Some of these medical conditions
may be treatable. Reversible conditions can be caused by a high
fever, dehydration, vitamin deficiency and poor nutrition, bad reactions
to medicines, problems with the thyroid gland, or a minor head injury.
Medical conditions like these can be serious and should be treated
by a doctor as soon as possible.
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