AgingMatters from LeadingAge NJ

Alzheimer's Warning Signs

By Fredrick Kunkle, The Washington Post


 
The early signs of Alzheimer's 

For people of a certain age, it's not uncommon to seize on any forgetfulness as a symptom of Alzheimer's disease. Lose the car keys, forget a name, read a Top 10 list of dementia's warning signs and the worry begins.

 

"Even more epidemic than Alzheimer's itself is the fear of Alzheimer's," said Richard Lipton, who heads the Einstein Aging Study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

 

So in an attempt to offer some perspective, here's another list.

 

We interviewed three experts: Lipton, who also heads the division of cognitive aging and dementia at Montefiore Medical Center; Ronald C. Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center; and Heather M. Snyder, director of medical and scientific operations at the nonprofit Alzheimer's Association.

 

[Silicon Valley may be on their way to finding the fountain of youth]

 

Here are their thoughts about what you should watch for:

 

Memory lapses

You shouldn't automatically fret about dementia if your car keys go missing. It's when you start forgetting truly important stuff that you should worry.

 

"It's also not necessarily forgetting where your keys are - in fact, I don't know where my keys are right now - it's forgetting what keys are for. Or not knowing what a key is for until you put it in your freezer," Snyder says. "It's that type of change in memory."

 

 Get the full list here...

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