Occasionally forgetting things is natural, so when should memory issues become a casue for deeper concern? Dr Chan Kin Ming, senior consultant in geriatric medicine at Chan KM Geriatric & Medical Clinic, on the key tell-tale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease and ways to slow its progression.
Recently, my 60-year-old mother keeps misplacing things and blaming them on the helper. Once, she even forgot her grandson’s name, though she remembered it later. Does she have early Alzheimer’s disease?
These complaints are worrying and certainly need further evaluation before we can conclude whether she has Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys one’s memory and thinking skills, mood, and behavior, and, eventually, the ability to carry out even simple everyday tasks.