alzheimer's disease
The most common form of dementia among older people. Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities.
Signs & Symptoms
People with Alzheimer's May Experience
Risk Factors
Communicable / Non-communicable
Non-communicable
Signs & Symptoms
- Increasing forgetfulness
- Mild confusion
- Difficulty organizing your thoughts
- Family members may notice problems, while patient might not
- Repeating of statements and questions over without realizing it
- Forgetting conversations, appointments, events or not remembering later that they've occured
- Routinely misplacing belongings, often putting them in strange (illogical) locations
- Eventually forget the names of family members and everyday objects
- Having trouble finding the right words to identify objects, express thoughts, or take part in conversations
- Difficulty concentrating and thinking, especially about abstract concepts like numbers
- Multitasking is hard -- managing finances, balancing checkbooks, paying bills
- Problems making judgments or decisions
- Difficulty responding to everyday problems such as food burning on the stove
People with Alzheimer's May Experience
- Depression
- Apathy
- Social withdrawal
- Mood swings
- Distrust in others
- Irritability and aggressiveness
- Changes in sleeping habits
- Wandering
- Loss of inhibitions
- Delusions, such as believing something has been stolen
Risk Factors
- Risk increases greatly after age 65
- Rate of dementia doubles every decade after 60
- Women seem more likely to develop Alzheimer's, possibly because they live longer
- Risk of developing Alzheimer's is higher if parent or sibling has the disease
- People with lower education levels (less than high school education) have a higher risk of developing the disease
- Other factors may also increase the chance that someone will develop Alzheimer's. These include:
- Lack of exercise
- Obesity
- Smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke
- High blood pressure
- High blood cholesterol
- Poorly controlled type 2 diabetes
- A diet lacking in fruits and vegetables
- Memory and language loss
- Impaired judgment
- Communicate that he or she is experiencing pain — for example, from a dental problem
- Report symptoms of another illness
- Follow a prescribed treatment plan
- Notice or describe medication side effects
- Inhaling food or liquid into the lungs (aspiration)
- Pneumonia and other infections
- Balance problems
- Falls
- Fractures
- Bedsores
- Malnutrition or dehydration
Communicable / Non-communicable
Non-communicable