Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms and Risk Factors

Identify the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease including memory loss and confusion. Learn about the risk factors such as age, genetics, and lifestyle choices.

Symptoms and Risk Factors

What Are the Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease Disorders?

The symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease vary among individuals but almost always involve a decline in memory and cognitive abilities. The most common early sign is difficulty remembering newly learned information. This is because the changes usually begin in the part of the brain that affects learning. As the disease advances through the brain, it leads to increasingly severe symptoms.

Patients typically experience:

• Disruptive memory loss that affects daily life
• Challenges in planning or solving problems
• Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home
• Confusion with time or place
• Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships

What Causes Alzheimer’s Disease Disorders?

Scientists do not yet fully understand what causes Alzheimer’s Disease in most people. In people with early onset Alzheimer’s, a genetic mutation may be the cause. Late onset Alzheimer’s arises from a complex series of brain changes that occur over decades. The causes likely include a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

The prime suspects in damaging the brain are plaques and tangles. Plaques are deposits of a protein fragment called beta amyloid that build up in the spaces between nerve cells. Tangles are twisted fibers of another protein called tau that build up inside cells. These structures block communication between nerve cells and disrupt processes that cells need to survive.

Early Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease

Recognizing the early warning signs can lead to earlier diagnosis and better management. In the early stages, symptoms may be subtle and easily dismissed as normal aging. However, the persistence and progression of these signs differentiate them from normal forgetfulness.

Common early signs:

• Forgetting important dates or events
• Asking for the same information repeatedly
• Relying heavily on memory aids like notes
• Withdrawing from work or social activities
• Changes in mood and personality

Moderate Stage Symptoms

As the disease progresses to the moderate stage, damage spreads to areas of the brain that control language, reasoning, sensory processing, and conscious thought. Memory loss and confusion grow worse, and people begin to have problems recognizing family and friends. This stage can last for many years.

Symptoms in this stage include:

• Inability to learn new things
• Difficulty performing multistep tasks like getting dressed
• Impulsive behavior or lack of inhibitions
• Hallucinations, delusions, or paranoia
• Restlessness and agitation especially in the late afternoon

Severe Stage Symptoms

In the final stage of the disease, plaques and tangles have spread throughout the brain, and brain tissue has shrunk significantly. People cannot communicate and are completely dependent on others for their care. Near the end, the person may be in bed most or all of the time as the body shuts down.

Physical decline includes:

• Inability to communicate verbally
• Groaning, moaning, or grunting
• Seizures
• Weight loss
• Loss of bowel and bladder control

Age as a Risk Factor

Genetics and Family History

Family history is another strong risk factor. Those who have a parent, brother, or sister with Alzheimer’s are more likely to develop the disease. The risk increases if more than one family member has the illness. Scientists have identified genes that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s.

The most common risk gene is APOE e4. Having one or two copies of this gene increases the risk of developing the disease and lowers the age of onset. However, inheriting this gene does not guarantee that a person will develop the disease.

Lifestyle and Heart Health

There is strong evidence linking brain health to heart health. The brain is nourished by one of the body’s richest networks of blood vessels. A healthy heart pumps blood to the brain to provide the oxygen and nutrients needed for it to function normally.

Conditions that damage the heart or blood vessels increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. These include:

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Poorly controlled diabetes
• Smoking
• Obesity

Head Trauma

There is a link between head injury and the future risk of dementia. Protect your brain by buckling your seat belt, wearing your helmet when participating in sports, and fall proofing your home. There appears to be a strong link between serious head injury and future risk of Alzheimer’s, especially when injury involves loss of consciousness.

Repeated mild trauma, such as that experienced by some athletes, may also be linked to specific types of dementia. The risk remains for years after the original injury, making prevention of head trauma critical at all ages.

Sundowning

Sundowning is a specific symptom pattern often seen in Alzheimer’s Disease. It refers to a state of increased confusion, anxiety, and aggression that occurs in the late afternoon and spans into the night. It can be very draining for caregivers.

Factors contributing to sundowning:

• Fatigue at the end of the day
• Disruption of the internal body clock
• Shadows causing visual confusion
• Hunger or thirst
• Presence of an infection like a urinary tract infection