Diagnosing Alzheimer’s (HealtheFolk Friday by Senior Citizen Journal)

People often associate Alzheimer’s with a memory disease and although the destruction Alzheimer’s causes has largely to due with memory, it is a disease of the brain and affects all cognitive functions. Alzheimer’s is known as a disease that mainly affect older adults and seniors and therefore, detection is sometimes difficult. 

Many Alzheimer’s symptoms closely resemble the natural signs of aging. So how does one tell what is normal and what is a warning sign of something much larger?

The National Institute on Aging identifies seven Alzheimer’s warning signs that were originally published by The Suncoast Gerontology Center, University of South Florida.  They are:

1. Asking the same question over and over again.
2. Repeating the same story, word for word, again and again.
3. Forgetting how to cook, or how to make repairs, or how to play cards — activities that were previously done with ease and regularity.
4. Losing one’s ability to pay bills or balance one’s checkbook.
5. Getting lost in familiar surroundings, or misplacing household objects.
6. Neglecting to bathe, or wearing the same clothes over and over again, while insisting that they have taken a bath or that their clothes are still clean.
7. Relying on someone else, such as a spouse, to make decisions or answer questions they previously would have handled themselves.


READ FULL ARTICLE at the Senior Citizen Journal


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