What is alzheimer’s disease?

Kindly let me know what Alzheimer’s disease is all about especially the early signs. I have an 80-year-old father who is too forgetful. I wonder if this is Alzheimer’s disease.

Dorcas (by SMS)

Most people with early signs of Alzheimer’s are in denial and most family members miss many subtle signs. Here are things to watch carefully: speech becomes slower, there are pauses in their speech, they tend to fill these pauses in with filler words like “um” and “you know”, many lose their sense of smell. Loss of smell usually means less appetite and more food spoiling in the refrigerator. Suddenly they stop doing brain activities they did for many years such as reading the newspaper or working crossword puzzles.

They realize they can’t remember street names anymore so they try to find their way by landmarks. They do best in their own environment with no changes to it or to their routines. They may forget they are cooking, so this is a great time to make sure they have working smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

They may forget to take their medications, so this is a good time to set up pill reminders. Alzheimer’s is not always strictly in the genes, after all, we know there is an increased chance of getting it if you have repeated head injuries, years of high blood sugar or high blood pressure.

Alzheimer’s progresses slowly, so use this time to convince him to add you to all of their accounts since he will have problems dealing with automated credit cards, automated systems that control the TV and cable, and dealing with potential fraudulent charges on his credit cards. Finally, you may have to watch over him in terms of scam phone calls. Also, know that most of the things you do for him will irritate him.

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