Dementia warning: Earliest symptom of Alzheimer’s disease when you’re out and about

Experts have warned people what to look out for as a potential symptom could be the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease

Memory issues, such as remembering events and absorbing new information are early indicator and someone with Alzheimer’s is more likely to forget recent conversations, get lost in a familiar place, forget appointments or important dates or become increasingly disorganised.

The first part of the brain likely to be damaged in someone who has the condition is the hippocampus which affects the memory. Someone with Alzheimer’s cannot create new memories and don’t recall recent things. But their memories of events in the distant past are not usually affected in earlier stages.

Thinking difficulties

They may also develop thinking and reasoning problems such as:

• Difficulty concentrating, or being unable to follow a conversation, and needing quiet to focus to and understand what someone is saying
• Planning or organising difficulties and the right order of doing a task such as making food
• Getting confused about what day or time it is, or even forgetting where they are.

The person can also think they are living during a different time in their lives. This could include being on holiday when they went to a location several years ago.

Language problems

In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease language and communication can cause difficulty in addition to not being able to concentrate on what’s being said. A person with Alzheimer’s, experts say, will be more general using words such as ‘thing’ or ‘stuff’, ‘her’ or ‘him’ rather than a person’s name. They may try to think of the correct word especially if it’s a word they wouldn’t often use. Those with the condition say words or place names can be on the ‘tip of their tongue’ but then don’t remember word.

Changes in mood

Someone in the early stages of the disease can become anxious or frightened Another symptom is sadness. They can also lose interest in speaking to others, or in activitiesthey used to enjoy. Over time they can become withdrawn and the changes in their mood could be caused by Alzheimer’s, but also at their frustrations with everyday tasks.

Those who have dementia are hugely affected, but so are those close to them. Anyone finding things difficult should ask for support from a GP or other medical professional.