What Are The Symptoms of Alzheimers Disease?

Alzheimers disease affects each person in a different way. Its impact depends largely on what the person was like before the disease, ie, personality, physical condition and life style. The symptoms of AD can be best understood in the context of three stages of its development – early, middle and late.

As stated before, not all persons with Alzheimers disease will display all these symptoms and they vary from individual to individual. The stages serve as a guide to the progress of the disease to help caregivers be aware of potential problems and to allow for planning of future care needs. No one person will experience the progress of the disease in exactly the same way as another.

Some of these items may appear in any of the stages, eg. a behaviour listed in the late stage may occur in the middle stage. Also, caregivers should be aware that in all stages, short, lucid periods can occur.

Early stage

The early stage is often overlooked and incorrectly labelled by professionals, relatives and friends as 'old age' or a normal part of the process of ageing.

Because the onset of the disease is gradual, it is difficult to identify the exact time it begins. The person may:

• Show difficulties with language
• Experience significant memory loss – especially short-term
• Be disoriented in time
• Become lost in familiar places
• Display difficulty in making decisions
• Lack initiative and motivation
• Show signs of depression and aggression
• Show a loss of interest in hobbies and activities

Middle stage

As the disease progresses, problems become more evident and restricting. The person with Alzheimers disease has difficulty with day-to-day living, and:

• May become very forgetful – especially of recent events and people's names
• Can no longer manage to live alone without problems
• Is unable to cook, clean or shop
• May become extremely dependent
• Needs assistance with personal hygiene, ie, toilet, washing, and dressing
• Has increased difficulty with speech
• Shows problems with wandering and other behavioural abnormalities
• Becomes lost at home and in the community
• May experience hallucinations

Late Stage

This stage is one of total dependence and inactivity. Memory disturbances are very serious and the physical side of the disease becomes more obvious. The person may:

• Have difficulty eating
• Not recognise relatives, friends, and familiar objects
• Have difficulty understanding and interpreting events
• Be unable to find their way around in the home
• Have difficulty walking
• Have bladder and bowel incontinence
• Display inappropriate behaviour in public
• Be confined to a wheel chair or bed