Alzheimer’s Symptoms
As mentioned in an earlier post on the types of dementia, Alzheimer’s accounts for 70% of dementia cases. In the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, one sees the individual go from no impairment to very severe cognitive decline.
Alzheimer’s patients experience the 4 As of Alzheimer’s: amnesia, aphasia, apraxia, and agnosia, where these abilities progressively decline.
Major psychiatric symptoms of Alzeimer’s include:
- personality changes
- depression
- hallucinations
- delusions
Depression can be present in dementia and at any stage of Alzheimer’s, but depression is treatable even in the later stages. Anti-psychotics may be prescribed for hallucinations. Hearing loss or poor eyesight can increase hallucinations in the elderly.
Personality changes can become evident in the early stages of the disease. Signs include irritability, apathy, withdrawal and isolation.
Early stage symptoms of Alzheimer’s include, memory loss or lapses, especially in forgetting familiar words or names or the location of keys, eyeglasses etc. Early stage symptoms of Alzheimer’s are not yet noticeable to family or co-workers.