Signs & Symptoms of Mild Alzheimer's

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Alzheimer's disease is a brain disorder that progresses over time. The hallmark of the disease is the formation of abnormal proteins called plaques and tangles. As these proteins increase in number, memory loss occurs. Also evident are changes in mood and behavior. Thinking, planning and language skills are affected. In the mild stage of Alzheimer's disease symptoms are bad enough to interfere with normal daily life. Each person who has Alzheimer's disease displays different symptoms, but most people with mild Alzheimer's disease have some symptoms in common.

Short-Term Memory Loss

People with mild Alzheimer's disease have significant short-term memory problems because the hippocampus portion of the brain is affected first. Think of the hippocampus as a filing cabinet. New information comes into the hippocampus but because it does not file the information properly, the information is lost and cannot be retrieved. Because of this, those with mild Alzheimer's repeat questions and have trouble completing daily activities.

Executive Function Deficits

Mild Alzheimer's disease results in a decrease in executive function. Executive function helps us connect past experience with present action. Because of this deficit, people with mild Alzheimer's disease have difficulty organizing, paying attention and remembering details. They have trouble paying their bills and handling money in general, planning events and have poor judgement.

Language Problems

Many individuals with mild Alzheimer's disease have trouble......read all of the Signs & Symptoms of Mild Alzheimer's

Greater Language Skills in 20s May Guard Against Alzheimer's

US News and World Report

Small study found women who wrote more articulate essays were protected from symptoms

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 8 (HealthDay News) -- Women with greater language abilities in early adulthood were less likely to have Alzheimer's disease later in life, even when autopsies revealed the clear brain changes that are hallmarks of the disease.

Also, the brains of women without symptoms of Alzheimer's housed bigger neurons, according to a study appearing in the July 9 online edition of Neurology.

"We noticed that the neurons in this group of people are larger and we also know that the same group of people we call asymptomatic also had higher language skills during their 20s," said study author Dr. Diego Iacono, a research fellow in neuropathology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

It's possible that the larger neurons compensated for the brain plaques and tangles that are usually indicative of Alzheimer's, the authors stated.

The findings could also mean that language abilities in the early 20s can predict the risk of developing dementia several decades later.

A previous study, this one in men, also found larger neurons in individuals who had plaques and tangles but no clinical evidence of Alzheimer's.

For the current study, researchers examined the brains of 38 deceased Catholic nuns, part of the ongoing Nun Study.

Women were divided into two groups: those with symptoms of memory loss along with plaques and tangles and those with no memory loss whether or not they had plaques or tangles.

Essays written by the women when they first entered the convent in their late teens or early 20s were analyzed for richness of language skills, including how many ideas were expressed per 10 words, number of verbs and adjectives in one sentence and more.

Women without memory problems scored......read all of Greater Language Skills in 20s May Guard Against Alzheimer's

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia articles and activities,