The Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease

The Alzheimer’s Association has developed the following checklist of common symptoms to help you recognize the warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease. (Some of these symptoms also may apply to other forms of dementia.) If you know someone who has several of these symptoms, he or she should see a physician for a complete examination.

• Recent memory loss that affects job skills. It is normal to occasionally forget assignments, colleagues’ names, or business associates’ telephone numbers, then remember them later. People who have dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, may forget things more often and not remember them later.
• Difficulty performing familiar tasks. Busy people can be so distracted from time to time that they may leave the carrots on the stove and only remember to serve them at the end of the meal. People with Alzheimer’s disease could prepare a meal and not only forget to serve it, but also forget they prepared it.
• Problems with language. Everyone has trouble finding the right word sometimes, but a person with Alzheimer’s disease may forget simple words or substitute inappropriate words, making what he or she says incomprehensible.
• Disorientation of time and place. It is normal to forget the day of the week or your destination for a moment. But people with Alzheimer’s disease can become lost on their own street, not knowing where they are, how they got there, or how to get back home.
• Poor or decreased judgment. People can become so immersed in an activity that they forget for a moment about the child they are watching. People with Alzheimer’s disease could forget entirely about the child under their care. They may also dress inappropriately— for example, wearing an overcoat on a hot day or wearing several shirts or blouses at once.
• Problems with abstract thinking. Balancing a checkbook may be difficult for anyone when the task is more complicated than usual. A person with Alzheimer’s disease could forget completely what the numbers are and what needs to be done with them.
• Misplacing things. Anyone can temporarily misplace a wallet or keys. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in inappropriate places—for example, an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl.
• Changes in mood or behavior. Everyone becomes sad or moody from time to time. A person with Alzheimer’s disease can exhibit rapid mood swings—from calm to tears to anger—for no apparent reason.
• Changes in personality. People’s personalities ordinarily change somewhat with age. But a person with Alzheimer’s disease can change drastically, becoming extremely confused, suspicious, or fearful.
• Loss of initiative. It is normal to get bored with housework, a job, or social obligations from time to time but most people soon regain their initiative. A person with Alzheimer’s disease, however, may become very passive for long periods of time and require cues and prompting to become involved.

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