Alzheimer’s disease causes degeneration of healthy brain tissue, resulting in memory loss and mental decline. While there is no cure, therapy methods can slow progression. Memory loss is a key indicator, including impaired immediate memory and emotional memory. Other symptoms include disorientation and loss of judgment.
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia caused by the degeneration of healthy brain tissue until the person loses all memory and mental abilities. It is most common in people over the age of 85, but can affect people of any age. The true cause is unknown and a cure has not been found, although through Alzheimer’s therapy methods such as medications and brain exercises, a person can slow the progression and reduce the correlation between Alzheimer’s and memory loss. The first indicator that Alzheimer’s may be present is memory loss, especially short-term memory. A man with Alzheimer’s might remember what he wore to a party 15 years ago, but he can’t remember what he had for breakfast that day, where he lives or why he entered a room.
A person’s memory is more than the ability to remember events in the recent or distant past; in fact, much of a person’s personality is based on their memory. Memory controls a variety of mental functions. Explicit memory is a person’s ability to recall seemingly unrelated words or ideas and recall them later.
For example, if a person is told three random words and is asked to repeat them immediately but cannot, this may be a sign of impaired immediate memory. If immediate recall is impaired, explicit memory will also be impaired, because the brain cannot memorize phrases to be remembered later. This event presents itself as a symptom of Alzheimer’s in the example of a person who cannot remember something they were told five minutes ago, such as a sports achievement, even if the person is a sports enthusiast.
Another connection between Alzheimer’s and memory is emotion. A person’s emotions are directly linked to their memory, and all memories evoke some sort of emotion. A memory of one person’s wedding day can evoke the emotion of happiness, the memory of the loss of a loved one will evoke sadness, and remembering a falling out with another person can evoke anger. Emotional reactions to new situations will build on past reactions, in other words, how a person has reacted previously is a good indicator of how they will react in the present. Emotions are fueled by what is remembered, so if memory fails, there will be a decrease in overall emotion or an unpredictable or out of character reaction.
Other symptoms that suggest a possible onset of Alzheimer’s and memory loss include the inability to find the right word, disorientation, loss of abstract thinking skills, and loss of judgment. Having one or two of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily indicate the presence of Alzheimer’s and memory loss. If most of the symptoms show up, however, there could be a problem.
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