Alzheimer’s..What are the signs?
About 500,000 Canadians across the country currently suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition which gradually robs a person of memory, cognitive function, and eventually of life. Anyone who has ever cared for someone with Alzheimer’s knows how devastating this disease can be, and how important it is to catch the disease early in order to slow its progression as much as possible. Here are eight common signs of Alzheimer’s disease everyone with an aging loved one should know:
1. Minor memory loss: Memory loss is probably the most famous characteristic of Alzheimer’s. Memory loss for Alzheimer’s patients begins in small ways, as appointments are forgotten, or names are forgotten but later remembered.
2. Trouble completing familiar tasks: As Alzheimer’s begins, patients find themselves struggling with things they’ve never had a problem before, such as cooking from a recipe they’ve used a hundred times, or balancing their checkbook.
3. Losing track of time or place: People with Alzheimer’s begin to lose an understanding for the passage of time. At the beginning of the disease, this might commonly manifest as forgetting the day of the week.
4. Vision problems: For some people with Alzheimer’s, the disease manifests as a vision problem. Some Alzheimer’s patients experience a problem judging spatial relationships, being able to read, or determining a color.
5. Speech problems: Alzheimer’s can also manifest in a patient’s speech patterns. Finding the “right word” becomes increasingly difficult, and sometimes in the middle of a conversation they may forget what they were discussing.
6. Poor decision-making: One of the reasons that con-artists prey upon senior citizens is that Alzheimer’s patients will find themselves making a very poor decision, such as giving a large amount of money on a whim.
7. Misplacing items: Alzheimer’s patients find themselves putting things back in strange places, where they do not belong, and subsequently forgetting where these items were placed. Over time, they begin to accuse others of stealing these items.
8. Mood and personality changes: Moods of Alzheimer’s patients swiftly change. With no prior warning, they may become upset, angry, withdrawn, or depressed. They become very attached to certain routines, and feel aggrieved when their routine is interrupted
For More information on Alzheimer’s disease please visit the Canadian Alzheimer’s society online at www.alzheimer.ca
Tags: aging trends, Alzheimers's care, caregiving, Elder Care, long term care
