By:- Dr Manali Chandra, Neurologist, Narayana Hospital, Barasat
We all have had those moments when we enter a room wondering where we kept our reading glasses and, after a thorough search throughout the house, we find them on our heads. Or perhaps our earphones, which were sitting in our pockets all along. A situation like this might trigger heightened anxiety if you have witnessed a relative or a parent suffer dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. However, just forgetfulness is neither dementia nor Alzheimer’s disease, as they have significant differences. Dementia is a steady decline in mental ability which becomes so severe that it affects daily life, while Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of Dementia.
Early signs of Alzheimer’s
Since forgetfulness is a common thread between dementia and Alzheimer’s, let us look at some key signs which will help to identify the latter.
Inability to recall recent events: It is natural to forget where you kept your car keys and remember their place later. However, in Alzheimer’s, newly learned information doesn’t register in memory in the first place. Even upon recall, you can’t remember any trace of an event. This happens because of impairment in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, which are responsible for memory creation.
Repeating questions and stories within the same conversation: This is one of the signs primarily noticed by family members first. The person again asks the same question as their memory didn’t register the response in the first place. This is different from someone who forgot something they mentioned earlier and brought it up again on a different day.
Inability to remember familiar places: If the person gets lost in a familiar neighborhood, forgetting routes and places where they walked or drove numerous times before, this points to a classic sign of Alzheimer’s referred to as spatial disorientation. This shows up defects in visuospatial processing (how the brain processes visual information in relation to the physical space it is in) which is different from normal forgetfulness.
Time disorientation: It is normal to lose track of time, especially if the person starts to forget which day of the week it is today. However, if the person fails to remember the current month, year or can’t fathom how much time has passed after an important event, this could raise a red flag.
Difficulty following instructions or conversations: The person may find it difficult to follow a film plot or a story in a book. They might struggle to concentrate and often lose the thread of a conversation. They might make numerous mistakes in remembering recipes, directions, and guidelines.
Misplacing items in unusual or inappropriate locations: It is normal to be absent-minded. A person might misplace their TV remote on a kitchen counter. However, if they put the remote in a place like the refrigerator or a bathroom rack, it may point to a deeper cognitive decline.
Why early medical evaluation and diagnosis matter
It can be tricky to notice and identify symptoms of Alzheimer’s. By the time the symptoms become noticeable, the disease has usually worsened. Early diagnosis offers time to begin treatment sooner. Early diagnosis also allows families to make important legal and financial decisions before the disease progresses.
Early assessment helps detect thyroid disorders, vitamin B12 deficiency, depression, or medication side effects, which pose similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s disease. Memory screening tests and brain imaging tests are some of the tests used for diagnosis.
Detecting Alzheimer’s early gives families the greatest gift — time to plan, love, and protect the memories that define us and the person suffering.
