Difficulty walking could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease

LONDON: New research finds that difficulty navigating while walking could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.

Early signs of Alzheimer’s disease include short-term memory loss, word-finding difficulties, difficulty planning complex tasks or solving problems and changes in mood or personality.

Research published on October 11 in the journal Current Biology finds that difficulty with navigation while walking could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s.

Researchers said that “impaired path integration,” which involves understanding distance and direction in order to sense your location, could be a sign of early Alzheimer’s disease (AD).”

What are the early signs of Alzheimer’s?

• Short-term memory loss is the most common early symptom of Alzheimer’s.
• Other early symptoms may include:
• losing track of dates or not knowing current location
• word-finding difficulties
• difficulty planning complex tasks or solving problems
• changes in mood or personality

It’s also important to note that in some cases, the symptoms may overlap with normal age-related cognitive changes in the earliest stages, so it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between typical aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

If people have concerns about cognitive changes, it is worth discussing them with their doctor to see if further evaluation is needed.