Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia and is also a progressive and fatal brain disease, which will rob a patient of cognitive skills and eventually bodily functions. Often the patient doesn’t succumb to the disease itself but from complications arising from it.
Recognizing the disease early can help a patient and family prepare to deal with it, but keep in mind there is no cure (although there are treatments that can possibly slow its progression or improve quality of life). Here are 12 early warning signs that Alzheimer’s is creeping into your life or that of a loved one…
Forgetting Recent Information
Alzheimer’s may present itself early as a missed doctor’s appointments or forgetting to get together with a friend you made a coffee date with a couple of days prior. Memory loss (a cognitive function) is the biggest marker of Alzheimer’s, and it will progressively get worse.
The U.S. Alzheimer’s Association explains that many patients rely on notes or electronic devices early on to remember important dates, or they may ask you for the same information repeatedly. The association said some older people who do not have Alzheimer’s sometimes forget details (such as names and appointment times), but they come back to them.