Symptoms of memory loss can be different for each person, and may depend on the severity of memory loss. For example, a person with mild age-related memory loss might notice he occasionally forgets an appointment. Someone with moderate to severe dementia might not be able to keep track of what day or time it is.
Symptoms may also depend on any underlying disease causing memory loss. People with Frontotemporal dementia, for example, tend to have more social/behavioral symptoms than people with other dementias. In people with Lewy body dementia, memory and thinking can fluctuate noticeably, and they may have hallucinations.
Signs of mild memory loss include:
- Getting lost
- Problems handling money and paying bills
- Repeating questions
- Taking longer than before to complete daily tasks
- Poor judgment
- Losing things
- Mood or personality changes.
Some people with memory loss report symptoms not typically listed in patient information material, including audio or visual hallucinations, loss of sense of smell, balance problems, inappropriate anger or outbursts and fatigue.
Learn More:
Tangled Neuron Posts:
Poor Balance Linked to Memory Loss
Balance and Memory (part 1): Are Physical Symptoms Connected to Alzheimer’s?
Can Loss of Sense of Smell Predict Alzheimer’s?
Stress, Depression and Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s or Lewy Body Dementia (Part 2 of 3)
Lewy Body Dementia: The Importance of the Right Diagnosis
Lewy Body Dementia Symptoms
Other Resources:
National Institute on Aging - The Changing Brain in AD Page
Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center Symptoms Page
Alzheimer’s Disease International’s List of Early Symptoms of Dementia
Alzheimer’s Association Information on Steps to Diagnosis
Caregiver.com Information on Detection of Alzheimer’s
U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Discussion of Symptoms of Vascular, or Multi-Infarct Dementia [1st paragraph]
Medline Plus list of symptoms of Dementia with Lewy bodies
University of California San Francisco Information on Frontotemporal Dementia
Pick’s Disease Support Group Booklet
Association for Frontotemporal Dementias Overview
Books:
