The Ten Warning Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

1. Memory loss includes frequently forgetting recently learned information such as appointments, names or telephone numbers. (Amnesia)

2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks such as preparing meals, using household appliances, taking medications properly or participating in a lifelong hobby. (Amnesia and Agnosia)

3. Problems with language include forgetting simple words or substituting unusual words, difficulty finishing thoughts or grasping for words. (Aphasia)

4. Disorientation to time and place such as becoming lost on a familiar street or in a familiar neighborhood, forgetting where you are going or how you got there or forgetting how to return home. (Amnesia and Agnosia)

5. Poor or decreased judgment including dressing inappropriately for the weather, giving away large amounts of money to strangers, telemarketers or the church, paying for unneeded repairs or products or forgetting to pay for services like electricity or mortgages. (Amnesia and Agnosia)

6. Problems with abstract thinking such as difficulty balancing a checkbook or working with numbers or planning a meal. (Amnesia and Agnosia)

7. Misplacing things by placing the items in unusual places (purse in the freezer, etc.) and/or losing things frequently (not a lifelong habit). (Amnesia and Agnosia)

8. Changes in mood include a person exhibiting rapid mood swings from being calm to tears to anger for no apparent reason.

9. Changes in personality such as dramatic changes including stubbornness, frustration, agitation, increased confusion, anxiety, paranoia, suspiciousness, fearfulness, delusional thinking or dramatically increased dependence on family members or friends or strangers.

10. Loss of initiative and increased depressive indicators including becoming more passive, increased sleeping, watching television for hours without grasping the content, or a loss of interest in usual activities.

The Fours A’s of Alzheimer’s Disease

Amnesia – the inability to use or retain memory, including short term and long term memory.
The person may constantly repeat questions such as “Where am I?” and “Who are you?” and “When are we going to eat?” or accuse the caregiver of stealing or being an imposter. This process occurs from damage to the Frontal lobes which store memory, personality, cognition, impulse control, speech, attention, rational thought, imagination and judgment.

Agnosia -- the inability to recognize or use common objects or people.
The person may become lost in a familiar place because he/she doesn’t recognize the items that alert us to our surroundings. He/she may confuse a fork with a spoon, a toothbrush with a hairbrush or toothpaste with shaving cream. Eventually the ability to recognize objects is lost completely. The person may also confuse a son with a husband or a father or an uncle, or a daughter may be confused with a mother or an aunt or a grandmother. This process is associated with increased damage to the Frontal lobes, the Occipital lobes (visual association, distance and depth perception) and the Temporal lobes (language, hearing and smell).

Aphasia – the inability to use or understand language.
The person will use the wrong word, or complete a story with phrases from another story, or provide a lengthy description of an item because he/she cannot find the right word. He/she may call family members by the wrong name, which increases the family’s anxiety and concern. This word finding difficulty will increase until all language use is lost. This is associated with damage to the Temporal lobes and the Frontal lobes.

Apraxia – the inability to use or coordinate purposeful muscle movement or coordination.
In the early stages the person may reach for an item and miss it. He/she may have difficulty catching a ball or clapping his/her hands. The floor may appear to be moving to this person and balance becomes affected, increasing the risk for falls and injury. In time, this loss of ability to move affects the Activities of Daily Living (sleeping, ambulating, toileting, grooming, hygiene, dressing and eating). In the end stage, the person is not able to properly chew or swallow food, increasing the risk of choking or aspiration. This is linked to damage to Parietal lobes (pain, touch, temperature and pressure, sensory perception) and the Cortex (skilled movement) and the Occipital lobes.

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