The people affected by Alzheimer's disease is predicted to nearly double in the next 20 years. An estimated 1 in 10 people over age 65 are affected by this debilitating disorder. Alzheimer's, a slow progressing fatal brain disease, will have a serious impact on your lifestyle so you should be aware of its onset signs. Many people, especially eldely, will ignore many of them saying that "it is old age" but it is best to see your doctor if you experience one or more of these signs.

The Alzheimer's Association made a list of 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's disease:

• Memory Loss That Disrupts Daily Life

• Challanges In Planning Or Solving Problems

• Difficulty Completing Familiar Tasks At Home, At Work Or At Leisure

• Confusion With Time And Place

• Trouble Understanding Visual Images And Spatial Relationships

• New Problems With Words - Verbally Or In Writing

• Misplacing Things And Losing The Ability To Retrace Steps

• Decreased Or Poor Judgement

• Withdrawal From Work Or Social Activities

• Changes In Mood And Personality

• Memory Loss That Disrupts Daily Life

  One of the most common signs of Alzheimer's is memory loss, especially forgetting recently learned information. Others include forgetting important dates or events; asking for the same information over and over; relying on memory aides (e.g., reminder notes or electronic devices) or family members for things they used to handle on their own.

   

  What's normal? -Sometimes forgetting names or appointments, but remembering them later.

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• Challanges In Planning Or Solving Problems

  Some people may experience changes in their ability to develop and follow a plan or work with numbers. They may have trouble following a familiar recipe or keeping track of monthly bills. They may have difficulty concentrating and take much longer to do things than they did before.
   

  What's normal? -Making occasional errors when balancing a checkbook.
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• Difficulty Completing Familiar Tasks At Home, At Work Or At Leisure

  People with Alzheimer's often find it hard to complete daily tasks. Sometimes, people may have trouble driving to a familiar location, managing a budget at work or remembering the rules of a favorite game.
  

   

  What's normal? -Occasionally needing help to use the settings on a microwave or to record a television show.

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• Confusion With Time And Place

  People with Alzheimer's can lose track of dates, seasons and the passage of time. They may have trouble understanding something if it is not happening immediately. Sometimes they may forget where they are or how they got there.
   

  What's normal? -Getting confused about the day of the week but figuring it out later.
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• Trouble Understanding Visual Images And Spatial Relationships

  For some people, having vision problems is a sign of Alzheimer's. They may have difficulty reading, judging distance and determining color or contrast. In terms of perception, they may pass a mirror and think someone else is in the room. They may not realize they are the person in the mirror.
   

  What's normal? -Vision changes related to eye disease like cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration.

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• New Problems With Words - Verbally Or In Writing

  People with Alzheimer's may have trouble following or joining a conversation. They may stop in the middle of a conversation and have no idea how to continue or they may repeat themselves. They may struggle with vocabulary, have problems finding the right word or call things by the wrong name (e.g., calling a "watch" a "hand-clock").
  

   

  What's normal? -Sometimes having trouble finding the right word.
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• Misplacing Things And Losing The Ability To Retrace Steps

  A person with Alzheimer's disease may put things in unusual places. They may lose things and be unable to go back over their steps to find them again. Sometimes, they may accuse others of stealing. This may occur more frequently over time.
  

   

  What's normal? -Misplacing things from time to time, such as a pair of glasses or the remote control.
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• Decreased Or Poor Judgement

  People with Alzheimer's may experience changes in judgment or decision-making. For example, they may use poor judgment when dealing with money, giving large amounts to telemarketers. They may pay less attention to grooming or keeping themselves clean.
   

  What's normal? -Making a bad decision once in a while.

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• Withdrawal From Work Or Social Activities

  A person with Alzheimer's may start to remove themselves from hobbies, social activities, work projects or sports. They may have trouble keeping up with a favorite sports team or remembering how to complete a favorite hobby. They may also avoid being social because of the changes they have experienced.
  

   

  What's normal? -Sometimes feeling weary of work, family and social obligations.
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• Changes In Mood And Personality

  The mood and personalities of people with Alzheimer's can change. They can become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful or anxious. They may be easily upset at home, at work, with friends or in places where they are out of their comfort zone.
   

  What's normal? -Developing very specific ways of doing things and becoming irritable when a routine is disrupted.

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Alzheimer's Disease Can Be Easily Misdiagnosed

A study funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging and the Department of Veterans Affairs suggests that many individuals diagnosed with Alzheimers may not actually suffer from the disease.

The study looked at brain autopsies of over 426 men who died at age 87 on average and found about that half of those were informed that they had the disease while alive but didn't have enough brain lesions at death to confirm the diagnosis. They also found that the likelihood of an incorrect diagnosis rose with age. The researchers are saying that larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and provide insight as to how we may more accurately diagnose and prevent Alzheimers disease and other types of dementia in the elderly. Most of those who'd been misdiagnosed did have one or a combination of other kinds of brain lesions that would explain the dementia. But their scans didn't show sufficient evidence for the more serious condition of Alzheimers.

Researchers find these results troubling because there are many other causes of dementia in the elderly, such depression, overmedication, thyroid problems, Vitamin B-12 deficiency and vascular disease. These causes are generally much more easily treated than Alzheimer’s disease. A wrong diagnosis of Alzheimer’s may have delayed or prevented proper treatment.

The scientists are saying that with the large increase in dementia cases expected within the next 10 years in the United States, it will be increasingly important to correctly recognize, diagnose, prevent and treat age-related cognitive decline. They are emphasizing that Alzheimers comes with a very specific set of symptoms and behaviors, including severe memory loss, an inability to process thought fully and an impairment in intellectual functioning. The impact on memory and thinking goes way beyond everyday forgetfulness and haziness. Alzheimers is not just a memory disorder. It affects the ability to think things through, it is a serious inability to learn new information, serious enough to really impair your job or your social life.