How to spot the symptoms of Alzheimer’s

Dame Barbara Windsor’s husband has revealed the actress has Alzheimer’s and her condition has worsened in recent weeks. He said they had gone public with her diagnosis – made in 2014 – because it had become “a lot more difficult for us to hide”.

Alzheimer’s often develops slowly over several years. And experts say it is not always obvious to begin with because the symptoms can overlap with other illnesses.

An estimated 850,000 people in the UK are affected by this most common type of dementia. So how can you spot the signs? It’s more than just losing the car keys. Alzheimer’s is more than just forgetting things occasionally. Everyone can forget where they left that cup of tea or people’s names – sometimes.

Forgetting stuff is also part and parcel of normal ageing. But these aren’t necessarily signs of Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. Memory loss is much more serious and is often one of the first signs of the disease. Short-term memory is usually affected, making people forget what they’ve done 10 minutes before or forgetting conversations they have just had.

Memory problems can also lead to people repeating themselves, or having problems recalling events that happened recently or struggling with familiar daily tasks, such as following a recipe or using a bank card.

To find out more visit the BBC Website