Acıbadem Bodrum Medical Center Neurology Specialist Dr. Gökçen Hatipoğlu gave information about the different symptoms of Alzheimer's in the early stages, from forgetting to depression, from confusion to place and direction, to weakening of reasoning power.
Stating that Alzheimer's is a disease that is becoming more common, and therefore settled in our daily language, Acıbadem Bodrum Medical Center Neurology Specialist Dr. Gökçen Hatipoğlu stated that 47 million people in the world live with this disease and gave information about the incidence of the disease and its distinguishing symptoms from other diseases seen in the early period.
Expressing that Alzheimer's is a disease that manifests itself with deterioration in all intellectual activities, daily functions and behaviors, especially memory, as a result of gradual damage to some parts of the brain over time. Gökçen Hatipoğlu stated that with the aging of the world, more people will have to struggle with this disease and said:
“There are 47 million Alzheimer's patients in the world. Alzheimer's is a common disease in the elderly. Studies indicate that the elderly population will increase in the future. This increase means that Alzheimer's also increases. Forecasts; He says that this number will exceed 2030 million in 76 and 2050 million in 135 in the world. It is estimated that there are 300 Alzheimer's patients in Turkey. Considering that Turkey is getting older, this number will increase with the elderly population.
“Not every forgetfulness is Alzheimer's”
Saying that the most well-known symptom of Alzheimer's in the society is forgetfulness, Neurology Specialist Dr. Gökçen Hatipoğlu stated that forgetfulness does not always indicate Alzheimer's. Expressing that forgetfulness can be seen due to many reasons, he said:
“Problems such as vitamin deficiency, thyroid dysfunction, depression, sleep disorders can cause forgetfulness, almost as if an Alzheimer's has developed. People who have a complaint of forgetting and are worried about whether they have Alzheimer's or not should first go through a control in which other causes are investigated. If the causes of forgetfulness are investigated and it is found that there is no problem, it should be checked for dementia or Alzheimer's.
“Dementia can also occur at a young age”
Noting that dementia and Alzheimer's are two separate diseases, Dr. Gökçen Hatipoğlu stated that one of the common symptoms of these two diseases is forgetfulness and said, “It should be known that the age of the patient is important in these two diseases. Alzheimer's is a disease of old age. We expect to see it after the age of 60-65, but dementia, which we call dementia, is a general diagnosis. In some cases, we can see dementia at a young age," he said.
“Alzheimer has early symptoms!”
Stating that it is necessary to know the early symptoms in order to distinguish between Alzheimer's and other diseases, Dr. Gökçen Hatipoğlu continued his words as follows:
“I can list 10 items that we can say as 10 early signs in Alzheimer's: First of all, the patient has memory loss. He asks the same things over and over, cannot find the place of the items he puts. The latter suffers from a loss in planning and problem solving. For example, you can think of this as not making a meal that he always makes, not being able to pay the bill he always pays, messing up his money account. Withdrawal from daily life, being more passive, confusing time and place are also considered symptoms. Another item can be seen as the inability to distinguish between the things one sees or the loss of direction due to the deterioration of visual memory. Apart from this, deterioration in the decision-making mechanism can be observed due to deterioration in reasoning ability. There may be an inability to continue working or social life, avoidance of activities with friends or daily hobbies. And the mood disorder, which we think begins to show symptoms earlier than any of them. Alzheimer's can also begin in the form of depression and anxiety. We can count these as early findings in general.”
Underlining that the patient should be checked by a neurologist in cases of suspected Alzheimer's, Dr. Gökçen Hatipoğlu concluded his words as follows:
“We have some general screening tests here. After excluding other causes in patients with forgetfulness, we can determine whether forgetfulness has started with these screening tests and whether it is an Alzheimer's disease. They can apply to a neurologist for this.”
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