Early Clues to Alzheimer's Disease
Early Clues to Alzheimer's Disease
Jan. 11, 2001 -- Six years ago, Cliff Covert says, he first began noticing something was different. He was just past 50, at the top of his game, and the head of his own marketing and public relations firm in Milwaukee.
"At that point, it was silly stuff," he tells WebMD. "I would be sitting in my office wondering, 'Why do I keep losing this pen?'"
He sometimes forgot friends' names. Then, one day, "I realized I didn't know how to get home," says Covert, "and I hadn't even had anything to drink."
Soon after, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
"It creeps up on you," he tells WebMD. "You try to tell people something is wrong, but they think it's a joke, that you're trying to be funny. They would sometimes get very upset with me, very angry. But as the disease goes on, you don't even bother with that. You're busy enough trying to find things around the house."
Symptoms like Covert's are typical -- and often missed by friends and family, says Cynthia Holzer, MD, a researcher and clinician in geriatric medicine at the University of Cincinnati. While Alzheimer's disease is usually seen in those nearing 70 and older, a genetic form of the disorder can strike around age 50.
Holzer has authored a new study outlining several subtle signs of early Alzheimer's disease -- clues that family members can easily notice and bring up to a physician, she tells WebMD. Her study appears in the November/December issue of Archives of Family Medicine.
There's a big safety issue. People with these symptoms "are at risk of endangering themselves and others," she says. "They need to be identified as early as possible."
"We also want to catch them early because there are medications specific to Alzheimer's disease to improve memory," says Holzer. "It doesn't necessarily bring it back, but it can slow the progression. We want to prevent them from having accidents at home or while driving, give them time to organize financial or legal issues before they really lose their memory."
"At that point, it was silly stuff," he tells WebMD. "I would be sitting in my office wondering, 'Why do I keep losing this pen?'"
He sometimes forgot friends' names. Then, one day, "I realized I didn't know how to get home," says Covert, "and I hadn't even had anything to drink."
Soon after, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
"It creeps up on you," he tells WebMD. "You try to tell people something is wrong, but they think it's a joke, that you're trying to be funny. They would sometimes get very upset with me, very angry. But as the disease goes on, you don't even bother with that. You're busy enough trying to find things around the house."
Symptoms like Covert's are typical -- and often missed by friends and family, says Cynthia Holzer, MD, a researcher and clinician in geriatric medicine at the University of Cincinnati. While Alzheimer's disease is usually seen in those nearing 70 and older, a genetic form of the disorder can strike around age 50.
Holzer has authored a new study outlining several subtle signs of early Alzheimer's disease -- clues that family members can easily notice and bring up to a physician, she tells WebMD. Her study appears in the November/December issue of Archives of Family Medicine.
There's a big safety issue. People with these symptoms "are at risk of endangering themselves and others," she says. "They need to be identified as early as possible."
"We also want to catch them early because there are medications specific to Alzheimer's disease to improve memory," says Holzer. "It doesn't necessarily bring it back, but it can slow the progression. We want to prevent them from having accidents at home or while driving, give them time to organize financial or legal issues before they really lose their memory."
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