Do You Have Alzheimer’s?
Are you forgetting things frequently? Are you confused with the roads you have once driven a million times on? Are you worried about your forgetfulness? Or one of your loved ones?
Simply forgetting a name or the reason why you just walked in to the kitchen does not mean you have Alzheimer’s. Sometimes with age, you tend to forget things, which is just a normal part of aging. However, if memory loss is seriously affecting your day-to-day activities and your life, it needs to be investigated.
The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease include:
- Memory loss
Initially you may just forget a name, then a telephone number, or an address. You may begin to forget what was just told to you a few minutes ago. You will begin to forget the big days of your life, the most important events, like a birthday or your anniversary. Eventually, you will begin to rely on memory aids such as post it notes.
- Difficulty in carrying out daily tasks
You might begin to carry out the day-to-day tasks in your life, such as cooking, driving, and playing a game. You might forget the recipe of the food you used to cook every day, or forget the road that you used to travel every day for work or shopping center.
- Confusion in time and place
You might start to get confused with time. You will assume it’s the afternoon at night time. You may not be able to predict what time is just by looking at the sky. You might forget where you are and how you got there.
- Trouble making plans
Do you have trouble in making plans or doing a task that involves numbers? You might find it hard to follow a recipe that you have used a million times before. Some people will also face difficulties to follow a plan.
- Problems with vision
A few people develop vision problems. This can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. These patients will have problems with judging the distance, difficulty in reading and difficulty in differentiating colors.
- Difficulty in carrying out a conversation
Alzheimer's patients often find it hard to carry out a conversation. They tend to stop in the middle of a conversation not knowing how to respond or continue the conversation. They also tend to repeat the same sentence over and over again.
- Misplaces things frequently
Patients suffering with Alzheimer’s disease tend to lose things more frequently and are unable to find them. So they often accuse others of being thieves. This may occur more frequently with time.
- Poor judgement
People with Alzheimer’s disease often make bad decisions and have poor judgement skills.
- They tend to be isolated or separated from the others.
People who were once social now tend to remove themselves from social groups, activities, hobbies, and sports.
- Changes in mood
These patients have frequent mood swings such as depression and confusion.
