These are the most common changes seen in people who have Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may:
- Be more easily distracted than usual.
- Find it difficult to “stay on task”.
- Ask the same questions over and over.
- Have problems making or keeping important appointments.
- Not remember recent conversations.
- Forget why he or she went into a room.
- Forget where things are in the kitchen.
- Have trouble recalling names of longtime acquaintances.
- Have trouble coming up with the right words in conversation.
- Have stopped reading.
- Mispronounce or use wrong words.
- Have deteriorating handwriting.
- Have difficulty driving.
- Become confused or disoriented in stores or malls.
- Have trouble finding the car in the parking lot.
- Get lost easily even on familiar routes.
- Show personality changes.
- Say or do embarrassing or inappropriate things in social situations.
- Have difficulties with hygiene / bathroom use.
- Have new problems at work or start to receive negative work evaluations.
- Have difficulties using household items.
- Have trouble dressing (two socks on one foot, puts shirt on backwards).
- Complain or show signs of blurred vision.
- Grope for door handles.
- Feel more down or depressed than before.
- Cry more often.
- Have a change in appetite or sleep patterns.
These symptoms do not necessarily mean your parent or loved one has Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, but they do warrant a discussion with your family member
and his/her doctor.