Alzheimer’s Disease

Symptoms

1. Often forgetting what happened in the last half hour or asking the same question over an over again. Memory problems become progressively worse, eventually disturbing normal activities.

2. Confusion, faulty decision, reasoning, and lack of ability to complete simple tasks such as shopping.

3. An increasing tendency to lose things and to wander and get lost.

4. Neglect of personal hygiene and appearance.

5. Depression, agitation, paranoia and anxiety – either as direct symptoms or as reflections of the distress people feel over thinking of their inability.

6. In later stages, failure to recognize familiar places and people.

7. In advance stages, a near-total loss of memory, speech, and physical ability, and require full-time care and supervision.

What to do now

1. Get examined by a doctor to check for disorders with similar symptoms. These include depression, hypoglycemia, brain tumor, drug interactions or side effects, vitamin shortages, stroke, and other conditions in which memory problems my be reversible.

2. If memory problems get worse over a period of months, see a neurologist or geriatrician for further tests.

3. Keep the home environment as soothing and organized as possibly. In the early stages, routines and visual aids such as checklists for daily tasks can help.

4. Patiently deal with forgetfulness, cause it’s a disease, not a ill will.

5. Help the diseased one, so that he can remain active and maintain his/her family and social ties as long as possible.

6. Have the diseased one wear a medical ID bracelet that says “Memory Impaired” and shows your phone number.

7. Restrict driving.

8. Contact your doctor about ways to control symptoms like insomnia, agitated behavior, and depression.

How to prevent it

There is currently no known way to prevent this disease

When to call a doctor

1. If consistent symptoms are shown. Because the individual my not be aware of the condition, it is often up to others to help.

2. The disease can undermine resistance. At the first sign of an infection or other illness the doctor should be called.

3. If the diseased one endangers him- or herself or others.

4. If you take care of the diseased one and feel that you are approaching a breaking point.