ONLINE TRAINING
Understand the disease, communicate better, and implement concrete solutions for a more peaceful daily life with your loved one.
Identify the signs and evolutionAdapt communication and activities
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Online training - 3 hours - at your own pace
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Your mother is searching for her words more often than before. Your father forgets important appointments. Is it normal aging or the first signs of Alzheimer’s? This question haunts millions of families, and for good reason: early detection of the disease allows for better care and calm planning for the future.
Today, Alzheimer’s disease affects more than a million people in France. Behind this number, entire families wonder if the changes they observe in their loved one are worrying or not. The line between normal aging and the beginnings of the disease can seem blurred, generating understandable anxiety.
In this article, we will explore the 10 early signs that should alert you. These signals, identified by neurologists and validated by the experience of thousands of families, will help you distinguish benign forgetfulness from true symptoms of Alzheimer’s. More importantly, you will know when to consult and how to act.
1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life
The most well-known sign, but often misinterpreted. It’s not about occasionally forgetting where you put your keys.
What is normal: Forgetting a name and then remembering it later, needing shopping lists, looking for glasses.
What should alert you:
- Forgetting recently learned information
- Asking the same information multiple times in the same conversation
- Becoming increasingly dependent on notes and reminders for things once memorized
- Forgetting important events or significant dates
Testimony from Marie, 58 years old: "My mother asked me 5 times in an hour if I had confirmed the doctor’s appointment. Even when I showed her the written confirmation, she asked again 10 minutes later. That’s when I realized it was no longer just distraction."
2. Difficulties in planning or solving problems
Tasks that require sequential thinking become insurmountable.
What is normal: Occasionally making a mistake while balancing a checkbook, needing help with technology.
What should alert you:
- Inability to follow a familiar recipe
- Difficulties managing monthly bills
- Prolonged concentration problems
- Taking much longer for familiar tasks
The person may abandon activities they once mastered, such as managing the family budget or preparing their signature dish. These changes are gradual but constant.
3. Disorientation in time and space
Spatiotemporal confusion is an early marker often overlooked.
What is normal: Forgetting what day it is and then remembering, being temporarily disoriented upon waking.
What should alert you:
- Losing track of dates, seasons, and the passage of time
- Forgetting where you are and how you got there
- Getting lost in familiar places
- Confusing day and night
Concrete example: Jean, 72 years old, got lost returning from the bakery he had been going to every morning for 15 years. He wandered for two hours in his own neighborhood before a neighbor recognized him and escorted him home.
4. Difficulties in understanding visual images and spatial relationships
Vision problems can be an overlooked symptom of Alzheimer’s.
What is normal: Needing stronger glasses with age, vision difficulties related to cataracts.
What should alert you:
- Difficulties reading despite appropriate glasses
- Problems judging distances
- Difficulties recognizing colors or contrasts
- Not recognizing one’s own reflection in the mirror
These difficulties can make driving dangerous long before other symptoms become evident.
5. Language problems in speaking or writing
Language, the window to our thoughts, reveals cognitive impairments early on.
What is normal: Sometimes having trouble finding the right word, making typos.
What should alert you:
- Difficulties following or participating in a conversation
- Stopping in the middle of a sentence without knowing how to continue
- Constantly repeating the same things
- Calling objects by the wrong name (saying "the thing for writing" instead of "pen")
- Writing that becomes illegible or incoherent
6. Misplacing objects and losing the ability to retrace steps
Beyond simple distraction, it’s the inability to mentally reconstruct one’s actions.
What is normal: Misplacing glasses or the remote control, finding them by retracing steps.
What should alert you:
- Putting objects in unusual places (keys in the fridge)
- Total inability to mentally retrace steps to find the object
- Accusing others of theft
- Increased frequency of these episodes
7. Impaired judgment or altered decision-making
Inappropriate decisions multiply, sometimes with serious consequences.
What is normal: Occasionally making a bad decision, regretting a purchase.
What should alert you:
- Giving large sums of money to solicitors
- Suddenly neglecting personal hygiene
- Wearing inappropriate clothing for the weather
- Making irrational financial decisions
- Dangerous behaviors (leaving the gas on, going out in pajamas)
8. Withdrawal from work or social activities
Progressive isolation often masks growing difficulties.
What is normal: Sometimes needing solitude, feeling tired of social obligations.
What should alert you:
- Abandoning favorite hobbies
- Avoiding family or friendly gatherings
- Difficulties following one’s favorite sports team
- Loss of interest in activities once exciting
- Repeated excuses to avoid outings
Testimony: "My husband loved his bridge club. When he started making excuses not to go, I first thought he was having a dispute with someone. In reality, he could no longer follow the game."
9. Changes in mood and personality
Personality, what defines us, can change in disturbing ways.
What is normal: Having one’s habits, being irritated when the routine is disrupted.
What should alert you:
- Confusion, suspicion, new depression
- Unusual fear or anxiety
- Apathy or emotional indifference
- Inappropriate behaviors in public
- Rapid and unexplained mood swings
- Paranoia towards loved ones
10. Diminished initiative
Apathy sets in insidiously, different from simple fatigue.
What is normal: Sometimes feeling weary of obligations, needing rest.
What should alert you:
- Sitting in front of the TV for hours without really watching
- Sleeping much more than usual
- Losing the initiative to start activities
- Needing constant stimulation to participate
- Indifference to important events
What to do if you recognize these signs?
If you observe several of these signs in a loved one, the first step is to not panic. These symptoms can have other causes: depression, thyroid problems, vitamin deficiencies, side effects of medications.
Concrete actions:
- Keep a journal: Note the incidents, their frequency, the context
- Consult a doctor: The primary care physician will refer to a neurologist if necessary
- Prepare for the appointment: List the observed symptoms, medications taken, family history
- Accompany your loved one: Your testimony is valuable for the diagnosis
- Stay kind: The person may be aware of their difficulties and suffer from them
The importance of early diagnosis
An early diagnosis offers many advantages:
- Access to treatments that can slow progression
- Time to plan for the future (advance directives, legal protection)
- Opportunity to participate in important decisions
- Establishment of appropriate support
- Reduction of stress related to uncertainty
How to differentiate normal aging from the disease?
| Normal aging | Alzheimer's disease |
|---|---|
| Occasionally forgetting a name or an appointment | Forgetting recently learned information |
| Making occasional mistakes | Inability to manage a budget |
| Occasionally misplacing belongings | Putting objects in inappropriate places |
| Age-related vision changes | Difficulties judging distances |
| Sometimes searching for words | Constant problems with vocabulary |
The crucial role of the entourage
You who are reading these lines may be the first line of defense, the first observer of subtle changes. Your vigilant kindness can make the difference between early and effective care and years of diagnostic wandering.
Do not wait for symptoms to become disabling. If your instinct tells you that something is wrong, listen to it. Families that act early all testify to the relief of finally having answers and solutions.
To go further
Observing these early signs is just the first step. Understanding the disease, adapting daily life, maintaining quality of life... a whole journey awaits you.
Our training "Understanding Alzheimer's Disease and Finding Solutions for Daily Life" guides you step by step in this new reality. You will learn not only to recognize and understand the symptoms but also how to adapt your environment, your communication, and preserve the bond with your loved one.
Do not remain alone in facing these questions. Solutions exist, strategies have proven effective, and thousands of families have regained peace of mind thanks to appropriate support.
