Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain leading to the irreversible loss of neurons and the loss of intellectual abilities, including memory and reasoning, which become severe enough to impede social or occupational functioning. The disease was first discovered by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906, hence, it is named Alzheimer.
When the Alzheimer’s progresses it affects different areas of the brain which as a result, impaired various abilities. The most common changes in the person with Alzheimer are the change in behavior and abilities. These changes may encompass the loss of memory, communication abilities, judgment and reasoning, changes in mood, etc.

The Alzheimer’s Association created a checklist of common symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The list could help in recognizing the difference between the Alzheimer’s and the normal age-related memory changes.
Here are the 10 warning signs of Alzhemeir’s as defined by Alzheimer’s Association:

1. Memory loss that affects day-to-day function: It is normal to occasionally forget some information like names, phone numbers or appointments and remember them later. But a person with Alzheimer’s disease begins to forget more often and cannot recall the information later.

2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks: It is normal when an elder occasionally forget why he came to the room or forget what to say. Busy people got distracted from time to time and loss track of what he is doing. But a person with Alzheimer’s disease may have difficulty in performing tasks that they have been familiar to them such as making telephone call or preparing a meal.

3. Problems with language: It normal to have difficulty in finding the right word from time to time, but people with Alzheimer’s forget simple words often. They tend to substitute with unusual words making their speech or writing hard to understand. For instance, they may have trouble remembering the word toothbrush and replace it with “that thing for my mouth.”

4. Disorientation of time and place: Forgetting for a moment the day of the week or where you going to is normal. People with Alzheimer’s usually become lost in their own neighborhood, and they often forget why they are there and how they get there, and do not know how to get home or where is there home.

5. Poor or decreased judgment: It is normal to make questionable or doubtful decision from time to time. But with a person with Alzheimer’s disease they may have decreased judgment, for example not recognizing a medical problem that needs attention or wearing heavy clothing on a hot day or giving away large sums of money to telemarketers

6. Problems with abstract thinking: It is normal for everyone to find balancing a checkbook a challenging task. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease may have unusual difficulty performing complex mental tasks such as forgetting what is checkbook for, what’s the meaning of those numbers.

7. Misplacing things: It is very normal to misplace some things like keys or wallet occasionally. A person with Alzheimer’s may place things in inappropriate places, like placing the shoes in refrigerator or the wallet on toaster.

8. Changes in mood and behavior: It is very normal to have occasional mood swings like feeling sad or happy in appropriate circumstance. But someone with Alzheimer’s disease may show rapid mood swings – from calm to tears to anger and aggression – for no apparent reason at all.

9. Changes in personality: It is quite normal for a person to change personality especially when we age. But someone with Alzheimer’s disease can become extremely confused, suspicious, withdrawn, fearful or dependent on a family member.

10. Loss of Initiative: It is quite normal to feel of work, activities or social obligations but commonly a normal person regains their initiative after sometime. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may become very passive, sitting in front of the TV for hours, sleeping more than usual or not wanting to do usual activities.

Oftentimes, we mixed up age-related memory changes to the sign and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The caregiver of an elderly should be observant and aware of the symptoms so that a proper care and medications can be given.