Is It Alzheimer’s? 5 Ways to Know for Sure

The “A” word is one we’d rather not hear.  It makes us imagine the worst. People losing their ability to think and act. Minds slipping away as family members and friends become distant strangers – an unstoppable progression to the bitter end.  But there’s more. While Alzheimer’s risk is nearly twice as high in Black people as it is in white people, not all neurodegenerative conditions fall into this category. In fact, many cognitive and neurological problems have symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s.   Not sure what to make of a certain condition or disease? Let’s cover the five conditions that get confused with Alzheimer’s and how you can get the correct diagnosis.  RELATED: Why Alzheimer’s Affects Blacks Differently First Off, What Makes Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s? In most cases, the first symptom to appear is memory loss, especially when it comes to remembering things that happened recently. As time goes on, sufferers may become confused and disoriented and show significant changes in how they act. In other words, new personalities and behaviors.  When it comes to physical signs of the disease, Alzheimer’s presents with what are called amyloid plaques and ‘tangles’ inside the brain. As a result of this plaque buildup, the neurons...