Early Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease

Overview

Many assume they’re the same, but dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are distinct conditions. People with dementia suffer from a set of symptoms that impact thinking and memory, where Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia that impairs thought, memory and speech. Although some forms of dementia can be reversed, a cure for Alzheimer’s is yet to be found.

The normal aging process leads to predictable changes in thinking and memory. These include “wear and tear” damage from oxidative stress — the reduced capacity to detoxify molecules or proteins that are harmful to brain cells — and declines in the energy-generating components of cells (mitochondria) that allow them to function optimally.

But such changes differ from pathological aging caused by conditions that damage the brain, like Alzheimer’s disease or cerebrovascular disease. Those conditions lead to a cascade of events that accelerates cellular dysfunction and death and are often associated with the accumulation of toxic proteins. When neurons are damaged or cannot function effectively, memory loss and a slowdown in information processing — known collectively as cognitive decline — can occur.

There are many other causes of memory loss, including vitamin B12 deficiency, and brain, thyroid, kidney, or liver disorders. However, having several other symptoms could be a sign of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recognizing the signs of dementia can help lead to a quicker diagnosis.

Memory loss and other symptoms of dementia

While symptoms of dementia can vary greatly, at least two of the following core mental functions must be significantly impaired to be considered dementia:

• Memory
• Communication and language
• Ability to focus and pay attention
• Reasoning and judgment
• Visual perception

People with dementia may have problems with short-term memory, keeping track of a purse or wallet, paying bills, planning and preparing meals, remembering appointments or traveling out of the neighborhood.

Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that causes a slow decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills. There are 10 warning signs and symptoms. Every individual may experience one or more of these signs in different degrees.

1. Difficulty remembering things that just happened

Forgetting dates or events; repeatedly asking for the same information; and relying more and more on reminder notes or family members to handle daily tasks.

2. Inability to plan or solve problems

Struggling to track monthly bills or solve simple math problems. Taking longer to do these things may be another sign.

3. Trouble completing familiar tasks

Driving to a familiar place; remembering the rules of a favorite game; or forgetting how to cook a simple meal (or even boil water).

4. Losing track of dates, seasons and time

If it isn’t happening right now, Alzheimer’s sufferers may not understand it. Forgetting where they are and how they got there are also common symptoms.

5. Vision problems

Judging distance, identifying colors or contrasts, and having difficulty reading. Poor driving may result.

6. Struggling with conversations

Repeating the same stories; inability to join or follow a conversation; and challenges with vocabulary, such as calling things by the wrong name.

7. Misplacing things

Putting items in unusual places; struggling to retrace steps to look for a lost item; and, in some cases, accusing others of stealing.

8. Poor decision-making

Having poor judgment with money or frivolously giving it away. Some people with Alzheimer’s may stop grooming habits or keeping themselves clean.

9. Withdrawal from work or social activities

Avoiding social situations, giving up hobbies, or failing to complete work assignments.

10. Mood and personality changes

Alzheimer’s can produce confusion, anxiety, suspicion or depression. It can make people become upset much more easily, especially when they’re away from home.

6 Types of Normal Memory Problems

Some people have the ability to remember things better than others, just as some people are better at math or athletics. Similarly, healthy people, regardless of age, can experience memory loss or memory distortion. Daniel Schacter, a psychology professor at Harvard University, describes what he calls six common “sins,” or flaws, of memory below. Some of these memory problems become more pronounced with age, but unless they are extreme and persistent, none are considered to be indicators of dementia.

• Transience. This is the tendency to forget facts or events over time. Although transience might seem like a sign of memory weakness, brain scientists regard it as beneficial because it clears the brain of unused memories, making way for newer, more useful ones.
• Absent-mindedness. This type of forgetting occurs when you don’t pay close enough attention to what you are doing or hearing; for example, misplacing your glasses or car keys. Because you were thinking of something else, your brain didn’t encode the information securely. Absent-mindedness also involves forgetting to do something at a prescribed time, like keeping an appointment.
• Blocking. This is the temporary inability to retrieve a memory — “It’s on the tip of my tongue.” Blocking occurs when a memory is properly stored in your brain but something keeps you from finding it. In many cases, the blocked memory is similar to another one, and you retrieve the wrong one. This competing memory, though, is so intrusive that you can’t think of the memory you want — like when you call your younger son by your older son’s name.
• Misattribution. This memory problem occurs when you recall something accurately in part, but incorrectly recall some detail, like the time, place or person involved. As with several other kinds of memory lapses, misattribution becomes more common with age, for two reasons. First, as you age, you absorb fewer details when acquiring information, because you have somewhat more trouble concentrating and processing information rapidly. Second, when you get older, your memories grow older as well — and old memories are especially prone to misattribution.
• Suggestibility. This is the vulnerability of memory to the power of suggestion — information that you learn about an occurrence after the fact. Suggestibility can be the culprit in recollections of incidents from your childhood that never really happened.
• Bias. One enduring myth about memory is that it records what you perceive and experience with complete, objective accuracy. In reality, your perceptions are filtered and influenced by personal biases — your experiences, beliefs, prior knowledge and even your mood at the moment — both when a memory is being encoded in the brain and when it is being retrieved. People prone to depression, for example, remember negative information better than positive information.