General Nursing©

Alzheimer's Disease

Symptoms:

Assessment findings may suggest various medical and psychiatric conditions that may be treatable in their early stages. People experiencing the early stages of Alzheimer’s may look well but may manifest the following:

• difficulty concentrating at times
• subtle short-memory problems
• inappropriate behavior
• depressed
• withdrawn
• little forgetful
• recall of recent events becomes impaired, the sufferer may remember events of long ago but is unable to recollect things that have happened that day, or even hours, beforehand. As the disease progresses, memory loss becomes more severe and the individual's own language, understanding, and recognition deteriorate.

Other symptoms may include:

• Incontinence
• Confusion of place and time
• Irritable or agitated temperament
• Lack of recognition of family and friends
• Lack of control of movement
• Childlike mental ability
• Sleeplessness
• Mood swings
• Depression
• Constipation
• Balance is unsteady and stooped posture develops
• Hyperorality
• Difficulty swallowing
• Smoking may increase
• Personality changes