Memory loss in early Alzheimer's can be difficult to detect at times. Is it just forgetfulness, or is there a real problem going on?

The things we've done in the last hours, days or even weeks are placed in our short-term memory. In early stages of Alzheimers, the most recent memories go first, but it is easy for people to manage to cover that up.

But as Alzheimers disease becomes more severe, past memories become affected as well. At this point, people around them will be more aware of the possibility of dementia or Alzheimers.

Having Alzheimers disease is often equated with losing ones memory. So much so that jokes are made about it. They are sometimes funny, until you get old enough to wonder if maybe you may be experiencing a touch of Alzheimers.

If you have a loved one with Alzheimers, the jokes are no longer funny as you see the downhill progression of their memory and ability to care for themselves.

This memory loss problem is very real and can be tested for. Many times just a simple set of questions are asked. The questions commonly asked in the doctors office have to do with both how the short term and long term memory works.

Questions commonly asked included

* What day is it today
* What month are we in
* What year is it
* Where are you now
* Who is the President
* Count backwards from 20-1
* I am going to tell you three things, you repeat it back to me after five minutes, when I ask.

If you cannot answer all the questions, or have forgotten something, it does not prove that you or your loved on has Alzheimers disease, but it does show that perhaps further investigation is needed.

If you feel someone has Alzheimers, be sure to have other tests run such as brain imaging such as CAT scan or MRI scan as these can help rule out other possible causes and help confirm the dementia or Alzheimer connection.

Many of the conditions being manifested in the early stages can be reversed or halted. So it is important not to ignore the memory problems, but get in to be thoroughly checked out.