One day a person is as sharp as a tack. Their memory is spot on, and their ability to think and reason are top notch. But then, as they begin to grow a little gray, their minds begin to change. Some changes are natural, and even very useful as one grows old. But sometimes the change is not so good. If you can learn to recognize Alzheimer's early enough, you may be able to help slow its advance in someone you love. Here are some ways to recognize dementia, and see the early stages of Alzheimer's.
The person's memory becomes flawed. Normally, a person will hit their peak in their 20s, and experience a very slow, very gradual decline in memory as they age, if any at all. Plenty of 90 year olds could not recognize Alzheimer's, because they simply do not have it at all. But if a family member begins relying on memory aids or family members for remembering what they used to remember on their own, it could be an early stages of Alzheimer's.
Another way to recognize Alzheimer's is to see if your loved one can still plan and solve problems to the extent that they once could do so. If they are having great difficulty (or taking an excessively long amount of time) to do a simple math problem or follow a familiar recipe, this can also be construed as being part of an early stage of Alzheimer's.
You can also recognize dementia at an early stage because one early stage of Alzheimer's involves not being able to do familiar mental tasks. For instance, if they need to follow a budget at home or work, it can be very difficult for a person with Alzheimer's to do so. They may also forget the rules to one of their favorite games. You can recognize Alzheimer's because even the familiar becomes exceedingly hard on their minds.
Another way to spot when a person may have Alzheimer's is to find out if they frequently have trouble with identifying the passage of time, or remembering when this is. Everyone occasionally forgets the time, the date or which day of the week it is. But an early stage of Alzheimer's involves having this happen to the person very often. And while most of us will eventually remember, "Oh, it's Tuesday! Duh," the person with Alzheimer's will not. They may even assert that this is, in fact, Wednesday – in a completely different season or year (or both).
There are other markers by which you can recognize Alzheimer's. For one, the person with Alzheimer's may fail to recognize familiar objects and people. Sometimes, people with dementia may pass mirrors – and while most everyone will occasionally get a start before realizing that they are seeing nothing more than their own reflection, an early stage of Alzheimer's can actually cause the person the believe that an entirely different person is in the room with them. Such an occurrence can be a dead giveaway that Alzheimer's has taken root.
