Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms and Signs
(Early, Middle, and Late Stages) Topic Guide

Alzheimer's disease (AZ) is the most common cause of dementia in industrialized nations. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are sublte at the beginning, and over time symptoms such as: slow or worsening memory loss, trouble remembering events or activities, difficulty doing familiar tasks, and difficulties finding the right words for familiar things.

Alzheimer's disease is a fatal brain disorder. Familial and sporadic are the two types of Alzheimer's disease. The three stages include early, intermediate, and late. Symptoms are dependant upon the stage of the disease, but include: memory loss, inability to think, inability to reason, inability to judge situations, inability communicate, anxiety, agitation, disorientation, paranoia, severe memory loss, loss of mobility, delusions, and hallucinations. There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, medications can be administered to control symptoms.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in industrialized nations. Treatment for Alzheimer's disease include interventions focusing on behavior, and the medications cholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA inhibitors, which have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease patients and caregivers are under emotional and physical stress most of the day and night. Information on how to manage the stresses of this disease for both the caregiver and patient is critical for the health of both individuals.

Dementia is the loss of reasoning, memory, and other mental abilities. Dementia may be caused by irreversible causes such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's dementia, Lewy body dementia, and vascular dementia. There are also treatable causes of dementia such as infections, head injury, normal hydrocephalus, and metabolic and hormonal disorders. Early symptoms of dementia include forgetting appointments and names, losing things, difficulties performing familiar tasks (driving, cooking, household chores), personality changes, mood swings, paranoia, and suspiciousness. There are 7 types of dementia. A variety of tests (blood tests, scans, assessment of family history) may be used to diagnose dementia. Treatment may include medication and behavioral therapy.

There is no good way to treat the progressive condition of dementia, but several different classes of medications can improve the symptoms and slow the patient's decline, especially if paired with diet and lifestyle changes. Drug classes include acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, N-methyl-D-aspartate blockers, and experimental amyloid deposit inhibitors. Antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs can help with problematic behavioral changes.

Dementia with Lewy bodies or Lewy body dementia is the name for a group in which dementia is caused by the presence of Lewy bodies in the brain. The cause is not known. Lewy body dementia symptoms include recent loss of memory, difficulty concentrating or paying attention, misperceptions of space and time, the inability to think or reason, abnormal movements of Parkinson's disease, depression, delusions, agitation, and unexplained fainting. Treatment for dementia with Lewy bodies is focused on lifestyle changes, care for the individual with dementia with Lewy bodies, and medication to manage symptoms.