Signs of Alzheimer's disease

It's really important to know the signs of Alzheimer's disease. If you know the signs, you can get help right away. Listed below are the early signs of Alzheimer's and the later signs that show up after you have had the disease for a while.

Early signs

• Trouble remembering recent events.
• Problems remembering names of people and places.
• Trouble solving simple math problems.

Later signs

• Forget how to brush your teeth or comb your hair.
• Cannot remember the names of common things such as desk, house, apple, etc.
• Wander away from home.

See your doctor early if you or someone in your family thinks your forgetfulness is getting in the way of your normal routine, it's time to see your doctor. Seeing the doctor early means you can find out what's causing you to be forgetful.

If you have Alzheimer's, finding the disease early gives you and your family more time to talk about and plan for your treatment and care.

Your doctor may do the following things to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease:

• Check on your general health
• Ask questions about your family's health
• Talk to someone in your family about your memory problems
• Ask how well you can do everyday things like driving, writing a check, and talking with friends and family
• Test your memory, problem solving, counting, and language skills
• Do medical tests — such as checking your blood and urine
• Do brain scans, also called CAT scans, that show pictures of your brain