Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is most often described as occurring in three stages: mild, moderate, and severe. The symptoms tend to be cumulative and worsen over time.

Mild AD

In addition to memory loss, early clinical symptoms will likely include:

• confusion about the location of usually familiar places
• taking longer to accomplish normal daily tasks
• trouble handling money and paying bills
• poor judgment leading to bad decisions
• loss of spontaneity and sense of initiative
• mood and personality changes and increased anxiety

Moderate AD

As the disease spreads to more regions of the brain, additional clinical symptoms may include:

• increasing memory loss and confusion
• shortened attention span
• problems recognizing friends and family members
• difficulty with language; problems with reading, writing, or working with numbers
• difficulty organizing thoughts and thinking logically
• inability to learn new things or to cope with new or unexpected situations
• inappropriate outbursts of anger
• perceptual-motor problems (such as trouble getting out of a chair or setting the table)
• repetitive statements or movement, occasional muscle twitches
• hallucinations, delusions, suspiciousness or paranoia, irritability
• loss of impulse control (such as undressing at inappropriate times or places or using vulgar language)
• exacerbation of behavioral symptoms, such as restlessness, agitation, anxiety, tearfulness, and wandering —especially in the late afternoon or evening—called, “sundowning”

Severe AD

At this point, plaques and tangles (the hallmarks of AD) show in the brain when viewed by imaging technology commonly referred to as an MRI. This is the final stage of AD.

These symptoms may include:

• inability to recognize family and loved ones
• sense of self seems to entirely vanish
• unable to communicate in any way
• lack of bladder and bowel control
• weight loss
• seizures
• skin infections
• groaning, moaning, or grunting
• increased sleeping
• totally dependent on others for their care
• difficulty swallowing (see more on this below)

Conditions With Similar Symptoms

There are other causes of dementia that have similar symptoms to AD. The following list contains some of the more common ones:

Neurodegenerative Diseases

• Parkinson’s disease with dementia
• vascular dementia
• frontotemporal lobar degeneration
• frontotemporal dementia
• Pick’s disease
• supranuclear palsy
• corticobasal degeneration

Other Possible Causes of Dementia

• medication side effects
• depression
• vitamin B₁₂ deficiency
• chronic alcoholism
• certain tumors or infections of the brain
• blood clots pressing on the brain
• metabolic imbalances, including thyroid, kidney and liver disorders