Alzheimer disease (also known as Alzheimer's) is the most common form of dementia among the elder. The disease is incurable, degenerative and it usually occurs in people over 60 but there have been documented many cases of early-onset Alzheimer's


The early symptoms of Alzheimer's are usually mistaken as the result of stress or are considered to be age-related. The most common early symptom tends to be memory lapses; the patient starts forgetting dates, important events, things he recently learned or information he recently received. As a consequence, the patient starts using memory aides(agenda, notebooks, reminder notes, electronic devices) in order to keep up with his/her usual activities or starts relying on his/her family help.

Another common sign is the fact that many people with Alzheimer's start having language problems and problems related to semantic memory. They may have problems in starting or following casual conversations, they may start forgetting the names of common objects, of friends and even family and they sometimes start using the definition of an object instead of its name.

The abstract thinking is also impaired, affecting abilities such as working with numbers, the ability to develop plans and to follow them and usually simple tasks such as following recipes, keeping track of household expenses and bills become much harder and take longer than prior to the onset of the disease. Performing familiar task may also be more difficult and so there may occur problems at work, at home or in social contexts.

Vision problems may be an early symptom of Alzheimer's disease when the patient starts having problems in reading a simple text, appreciating the colors, the contrasts or the distances. The people with Alzheimer's disease may also experience disorientation; they may become lost in otherwise familiar places, they may not know where they are , why, when and how did they get there and they may also lose track of time, dates and sometimes even seasons.

Misplacing an object is something that happens to anyone but in Alzheimer's disease the patients usually put important objects in odd and unusual places and afterwords they are unable to find them. In some cases they may even start accusing the others of stealing their things (especially keys, wallets, valuable items). As the disease progresses, this feature's frequency increases.



Judgment is also affected by Alzheimer's. The patient may spend large amounts of money for things they will never use, present a reduced interest in housekeeping or personal hygiene.

Withdrawal from both social and professional activities is not only a consequence of the embarrassment caused by the features mentioned earlier but also an important psychiatric symptom. The patient's withdrawal from his usual interest is accompanied by forgetting how to complete activities such as games, hobbies, losing interest in social contacts or business and an increased need for sleep. Personality and mood changes occur in all the people with Alzheimer's disease. They may become irritable, depressed, anxious, suspicious, confused and grumpy, have rapid mood swings or be dependent of one of the family members. Aggressivity and stubbornness are not unusual , especially if the patient is outside his/her comfort zone.