The Early Signs Of Alzheimers Disease: What To Look For


Alzheimers disease is a well documented illness that is devastating to millions of people around the world. This disease was first noted by a physician in Germany named, Dr. Alois Alzheimer. One of his patients was exhibiting unusual symptoms. When the woman passed away, Dr. Alzheimer was able to do an autopsy that showed damage to the brain.

From there, the disease has been studied and more is known about it every year. Alzheimer research is progressing to find ways to prevent this disease, and identify it in the earliest stages in order to begin treatment early. Knowing the early signs of Alzheimers Disease can help patients be aware of their own condition.

Early Signs Of Alzheimers Disease: Specific Symptoms

For many, simple forgetfulness can occur. This is not a problem, unless the forgetfulness becomes frequent, and begins to interfere with day to day life. The inability to remember is one of the early signs of Alzheimers disease. Not everyone that forgets where they placed their keys is having one of the early signs of Alzheimers disease; it is when this is a chronic complaint. It is important to discuss with a physician if forgetfulness is becoming a problem.

Another one of the early signs of Alzheimers disease is confusion. Becoming confused about where a person is, or what they were suppose to be doing is one of the early signs of Alzheimers disease. Again, this can happen to people periodically, but when it is an on going problem it should be talked about with a physician. Often, family members are the ones that notice the continuing pattern of behaviors in a loved one. It can be helpful to write down how many times these types of behavior are occurring to get a real sense if there is a growing problem.

The early signs of Alzheimers disease can seem somewhat vague and not that severe. An additional sign is having problems with language, forgetting words and becoming disoriented. These early signs of Alzheimers disease can seem like part of the natural aging process. If there seems to be a constant battle in remembering things, feeling disoriented and feeling confused, it is time to have a physician give an opinion as the severity of the symptoms.

Early signs of Alzheimers disease need to be monitored and taken seriously. Check with family members to see if the behavior noticed is being seen by others, and again talk with a physician about the symptoms.

Familial Alzheimers

Your family member may begin to have difficulty recognizing family and friends, and he may confuse a brother with a nephew or a spouse with a cousin.

Alzheimers disease is generally thought to consist of three different stages of the illness, with a variety of symptoms that can appear with each stage. Alzheimer was baffled by the condition. Early-onset Alzheimers disease is somewhat different than most types of Alzheimers. Alzheimers care requires plenty of patience on the part of the caregiver, since the patient may vary from day to day in how much he is capable of doing. This group works around the clock not just to help find the cause of Alzheimers, as well as a cure, but also to make life easier on the patients who have been diagnosed with this disease and the families that are there to help them.

Part of this delay in diagnosis may be due to the stigma that is involved with this disease which can discourage individuals to get tested when they first notice symptoms.
The initial stage is considered stage 1. This is a chemical in the brain that is used for mental functions and plays a role in memory functions. Alzheimers disease is the most common cause of dementia, and symptoms may include: loss of memory, difficulty in finding the right words or understanding what people are saying, difficulty in performing seemingly simple tasks, and personality and mood changes.

However, researchers are quite confident that they are close to developing medications to successfully treat the symptoms of Alzheimers disease.
Between 50% to 70% of all cases of dementia can be credited to Alzheimers disease. The gene that seems to be the most common indicator of late-onset Alzheimers disease is the APOE gene, located on the chromosome number 19. However, it most commonly begins when a person is in their 50s. If symptoms are noticed it is important to consult a physician for a complete evaluation. Often people dont realize that this is a symptom of Alzheimers and dont take it seriously.