The 11 First Symptoms Of Alzheimer’s (and Their Explanation)
Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that causes serious damage to the brain. and kills many neurons, affecting the connections between them. This has an effect at a behavioral and cognitive level, and affects, among many other things, memory.
Alzheimer’s is a cortical type dementia and is one of the most common and well-known. Generally, the disease progresses gradually, That is why early detection and diagnosis is essential.. Treatment in the early stages of the disease can relieve symptoms and slow its progression.
The exact cause of this disease is still unknown today, although some changes are observed in the brain of people who suffer from this condition. Individuals with Alzheimer’s have a high number of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid beta plaques.
Scientific data points to the idea that there are malformations in two proteins found in the brain, tau proteins and amyloid beta. According to a group of researchers from the Montreal Neurological Institute, these proteins spread through the brain like a plague, and are related to aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
While initial research suggested that both proteins initially emerge in separate brain regions, a new study published in December 2016 in the Journal Acta Neuropathologica states that both proteins are present in the early stages of the disease and in the same brain regionsuggesting that both contribute to the onset of the disease and are more connected than previously believed. This research was carried out by the University of Aberdeen.
This study concludes, therefore, that for the first time that the molecules supposedly contribute to the initial process of the disease, that is, they are present in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s. They are located in an area of the brain that is involved in memory formation and information processing, which could have implications for the development of new drugs, but can also provide important information for early diagnosis of the disease.
AND… What are the symptoms of early diagnosis? What behaviors do people with Alzheimer’s present in the initial moments of the disease?
Below you can find a list of early symptoms and characteristic signs of people with Alzheimer’s in the early stages.
1. Frequent falls
Although falls are somewhat common in the elderly, they are even more common in people who suffer from Alzheimer’s.. This is what a study found in which 125 adult subjects participated and who were tracked how often they fell or tripped over a period of eight months.
It turns out that when the research group performed the brain scan tests, the Alzheimer’s subjects had fallen more. Falls are common in people with this disease due to wandering or lack of orientation. Likewise, these individuals usually present hyperkinetic disorderwhich makes them be more active and move more, increasing the chances of falling.
2. Forgetfulness in aspects of routine
Memory problems are characteristic of Alzheimer’sso in the early stage of the disease it is possible to detect that these people’s memory fails. The easiest way to observe it is in functional objects and those that are used daily. For example, the person does not remember where the keys or dirty dishes are kept. He has serious difficulties carrying out simple tasks that he previously did normally.
People with Alzheimer’s don’t understand sarcasmso in this situation they can become extremely serious and take things literally. A study from the University of California, San Francisco, led by Katherine Rankin, found that Alzheimer’s patients and those with frontotemporal disease did not recognize sarcasm in face-to-face encounters.
The cause appears to be that the posterior hippocampus of the brain is affected with Alzheimer’s disease, and is a region where short-term memory is stored, which affects sarcasm.
4. Loss of belongings
S****e has commented that people with Alzheimer’s can forget aspects of routinelike not knowing where to put the keys or not remembering whether or not they have eaten throughout the day. This often causes them to lose their own belongings, because they don’t know where they have put them. It is common for them to even put their things in the wrong places, for example, the clock on the refrigerator.
5. Changes in your social behavior
People with Alzheimer’s show a series of behaviors that make them think that something is happening to them.. The way he behaves when it comes to his projects changes or he stops doing the hobbies that he previously enjoyed so much. The person increasingly withdraws from social life and may sleep more or spend more time watching television instead of socializing with other people.
6. Difficulties in problem solving
It is common for patients to have difficulty solving problems.. In fact, it is difficult for them to do mathematical operations or follow a series of guidelines. For example, it would be very difficult for them to follow a simple culinary recipe.
7. Mood swings
Mood changes are common in people with Alzheimer’swhich can become very problematic and even conflictive in advanced stages. In fact, their personality changes radically as the disease progresses, and family members are the ones who feel this behavior the most.
Anxiety, sadness, fear or frustration are emotions that these subjects can frequently suffer from. They can get angry easily both at home and in places where they are out of their environment.
8. Confusion regarding time and places
Individuals with this disease may be confused about the time and place. In other words, they can feel disoriented and can get lost quite easily. This causes serious problems for them, and as stated above, disorientation also causes these people to fall more.
9. Loss of common sense
A person’s judgment is their opinions and decisions. Individuals who suffer from Alzheimer’s may see this capacity diminished, causing them to pay less attention to their self-care or make decisions that are poorly understood and far from common sense.
For example, by giving a lot of money to a telephone salesman who calls you on your cell phone offering you an offer. These decisions may seem strange and irresponsible to the rest of us, but not to them.
10. Excessive agitation
It is not at all unusual for people with Alzheimer’s to feel distressed or agitated. What causes them to be in continuous movement… Agitation is usually the result of fear, confusion or trying to understand the world that begins to make no sense at some moments. This also causes the aforementioned mood swings, and is a clear sign that the person is changing.
11. Difficulties in communicating
With this disease, the language and communication skills of the affected person decrease significantly.. It is very common that even in the vocabulary these symptoms can be seen: difficulties in finding the correct word, calling things by wrong names, replacing familiar words with unusual or incorrect ones or calling acquaintances as if they were strangers (for example, to a friend as “that guy”).
