Stages of Alzheimer's: An Overview
Alzheimer's disease develops slowly and causes changes in the brain long before there are obvious changes in a person's memory, thinking, use of words, or behavior.
Alzheimer's stages include:
- Mild Alzheimer's disease
- Moderate Alzheimer's disease
- Severe Alzheimer's disease.
A person with mild Alzheimer's disease may:
- Lose recent memory without a change in appearance or casual conversation.
- Lose the ability to make judgments concerning money.
- Have difficulty with new learning and making new memories.
- Have trouble finding words. He or she may substitute or make up words that sound like or mean something like the forgotten word.
- May stop talking to avoid making mistakes.
- Have a shorter attention span and less motivation to stay with an activity.
- Easily lose his or her way going to familiar places.
- Resist change or new things.
- Have trouble organizing and thinking logically.
- Ask repetitive questions.
- Withdraw, lose interest, or become irritable. He or she may not be as sensitive to others' feelings or become uncharacteristically angry when frustrated or tired.
- Avoid making decisions. For example, when asked what he or she wants to eat, says, "I'll have what she is having."
- Take longer to do routine chores, becoming upset if rushed or if something unexpected happens.
- Forget to pay, pay too much, or forget how to pay. For instance, he or she may hand the checkout person a wallet instead of the correct amount of money.
- Forget to eat, eat only one kind of food, or eat constantly.
- Lose or misplace things by hiding them in odd places or forget where things go. For example, the person may put clothes in the dishwasher.
- Hoard things of no value.
