Memory loss without dementia is not uncommon. Hormonally, women can experience temporary memory problems during perimenopause and menopause. Seniors can become forgetful as they enjoy decade after decade of life. Chronic stress, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, and side effects of medications can also impact memory. There is, however, memory loss that worsens and becomes permanent, eventually developing into full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.
Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease
The human brain is powerful and can store almost unlimited amounts of information. Feeling forgetful, though, especially as you head toward middle age and senior years, can be terrifying. Is it early-onset Alzheimer’s disease? Is it a rough patch caused by another ailment? These questions indicate just how important regular preventive care is.
A brain disease like Alzheimer’s causes a slow decline in thinking, memory, and reasoning. Sometimes people recognize changes in themselves before others see them, sometimes routine screenings are necessary to start a diagnosis. There are multiple signs and symptoms, according to the Alzheimer’s Association:
- Memory loss that disrupts daily life. Forgetting recently learned information or important dates, needing reminders from notes or family members.
- Challenges in planning or solving problems. Having a hard time developing and following a plan.
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks. Struggling to manage typical tasks like household finances or following a familiar recipe.
- Confusion with time or place. The passage of time becomes difficult to recognize or commonly lose track of dates or the season.
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. There are problems judging distance, identifying color, reading, driving, and balancing.
- New problems with words in speaking or writing. Trouble following a conversation, losing train of thought, making up new words for common items.
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. Putting things back in the wrong place or in unusual locations.
- Decreased or poor judgment. May involve unwise money decisions or a lack of attention to personal grooming.
- Withdrawal from work or social activities. Difficulty sticking with a conversation or favorite activity may cause a person to avoid engaging with others.
- Changes in mood and personality. People can become confused, depressed, suspicious, anxious, or fearful.
Recognizing Normal Memory Loss
Having a handful of forgetful days is not necessarily an indication of Alzheimer’s disease nor is it a time to panic. Losing things occasionally, being unable to call up a word in a conversation, or missing a payment you thought you made can be a momentary lapse and nothing more, a time of stress or overwhelm or distraction.
If you have concerns about memory loss, or if Alzheimer’s disease runs in your family, contact me, Dr. Maria Swetech, to discuss your health and wellness and discover what’s really going on with your systems. Schedule an appointment today.
Nothing in this blog is official medical advice. See your doctor for customized care.
