Dementia expert's warning over early sign of Alzheimer's that isn't memory loss

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Dementia experts have shared one early Alzheimer's sign to look out for and it's not what you'd expect. The disease is one of the most common types of dementia, however it is often hard to detect if someone has Alzheimer’s early on.

Many of the symptoms could be put down to other factors including depression, stress or clumsiness, writes The Mirror.Symptoms gradually get worse over the years but in its initial stages, memory loss is mild.With late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals often lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment.Their visuospatial skills also deteriorate, meaning that they are unable to judge distances correctly.

One early sign of the disease could be something as subtle as tripping up the stairs. The Alzheimer's Society says: "A person with dementia may also have ‘visuospatial difficulties’, when the brain has problems processing information about 3D objects.

This can affect a person’s spatial awareness or the ability to judge distances. They may have difficulties using stairs, parking a car or recognising objects." Dr Jørn Slot Jørgensen, of Laser Eye Clinic London, said that the symptoms may be "subtle" and not immediately noticed, however.A previous study UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences found that retinal scans can detect key changes in blood vessels that may provide an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.