Many people are afraid of developing Alzheimer’s disease as they get older. But just because you become a little more forgetful doesn’t mean that you are suffering from dementia. Experts name ten symptoms that can actually be signs of the disease.
Forgetting something. Asking twice because you didn’t understand something. Having trouble concentrating. Symptoms like these are classic signs of aging. They don’t always mean that someone has Alzheimer’s. But the differences are often not so easy to spot. Experts from the Alzheimer Research Initiative have therefore named ten warning signs that you should look out for.
According to the German Alzheimer Society, around 1.8 million people in Germany live with dementia, most of them suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
In the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, nerve cells and the transmission points between them are increasingly dying. This is caused by growing protein deposits between the neurons, the so-called amyloid plaques. In addition, tau proteins bundle together inside the cells to form what are known as neurofibrils. This “cluttering” of the brain leads to the well-known symptoms of memory lapses and even the loss of all cognitive abilities and personality.
The Alzheimer Foundation offers further information to better understand the disease: www.alzheimer-forschung.de
Alzheimer’s warning signs: You forget to turn off the stove. Or you miss important appointments. Such impairments of short-term memory that affect everyday life are an indication of Alzheimer’s. Even if everyday life can only be organized with notes.
Normal age-related changes: names or appointments are temporarily forgotten but later remembered.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: You have trouble concentrating for long periods of time or planning ahead. Or you need a lot more time for many things than before, such as cooking or baking using familiar recipes.
Normal age-related change: Distraction when there are many things to do at once.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: Normal everyday activities suddenly become major challenges. Routine tasks become more difficult for you or you forget the rules of a game you actually know.
Normal age-related change: You may occasionally need help with complex daily tasks, such as programming the television.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: You can no longer correctly classify places or time intervals. You forget the year or the season, can no longer read the clock or no longer know how to get home.
Normal age-related change: You sometimes mix up the day of the week and remember it later.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: You have great difficulty recognizing images or grasping spatial dimensions. This also applies to recognizing familiar faces.
Normal age-related change: Your vision changes or decreases.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: You have difficulty following or participating actively in a conversation. You lose your train of thought or have trouble finding words.
Normal age-related change: Sometimes you can’t find the right word.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: You often leave things lying around or put them in unusual places. You not only forget where things are, but also what they are used for. For example, you put shoes in the fridge or car keys in the mailbox.
Normal age-related change: You sometimes misplace things and then find them again.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: Your ability to judge and make decisions changes, for example when choosing your clothes. Or when dealing with money or personal hygiene.
Normal age-related changes: You sometimes make rash or wrong decisions.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: You increasingly lose initiative and pursue hobbies, social or sporting activities less and less. Or you notice changes in yourself that make you feel insecure and you withdraw.
Normal age-related changes: You sometimes feel stressed by demands at work, in the family or by social obligations.
Alzheimer’s warning signs: You have strong mood swings for no apparent reason. Or there are pronounced personality changes. For example, those affected feel uncomfortable in unfamiliar rooms, sudden mistrust, aggressive behavior or feelings of powerlessness, sadness and restlessness.
Normal age-related changes: You are irritated when regular daily routines are changed or interrupted.
“If one of these symptoms occurs repeatedly, you should definitely see a doctor,” advise the experts. “It is important to clarify the cause of the forgetfulness early and professionally in order to treat possible causes.” In the case of Alzheimer’s disease, therapy should therefore be started as early as possible. This is because medication that can slow the progression works best at the beginning of the disease.
