by A neurologist has discovered the first telltale sign he noticed on the face in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Daniel Gibbs, 73, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after taking a DNA test for his wife’s genealogy research in 2012
In addition to learning where his ancestors had lived and whether he was likely to get red spots on his face after drinking alcohol, Daniel was also “shocked” to discover that he has two copies of the APOE gene – which significantly increases the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Although he has worked as a neurologist for more than twenty years, he was completely taken aback by the result. Daniel had no obvious signs of cognitive impairment and no family history, as both of his parents had died of cancer at an early age.
Face blindness is a neurological disorder in which a patient has difficulty perceiving or recognizing faces
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In an article in Scientific American a few years ago, he highlighted a strange symptom that was becoming increasingly common: face blindness.
Face blindness, also called prosopagnosia, is a neurological disorder in which a patient has difficulty perceiving or recognizing faces.
Acquired facial blindness can be caused by head injuries, strokes, or tumors affecting parts of the temporal lobe.
“Many Alzheimer’s patients experience a more insidious form of face blindness in the early stages,” explains Gibbs.
Although the retired neurologist’s cognitive limitations are still minimal, he is having increasing difficulty recognizing faces, even of people he knows well.
“I don’t recognize many of my neighbors until I hear their voice or see the dog they are walking,” he wrote.
Mr Gibbs has resolved to pay more attention to the dogs than their owners, adding: “Even for me, pets are easy to identify by their shape, size, coat colour and sometimes temperament or behaviour.”
Mr Gibbs finds that pets are easy to identify based on their shape, size, coat colour and behaviour
P.A.
However, face blindness was not the neurologist’s first symptom.
He believes the first symptoms appeared in 2006, when he began to lose his sense of smell.
At the time, he attributed it to the normal aging process.
His short-term memory is also getting “a little worse, but not worrying,” he told JAMA Network.
“I misplace things a little more often, but overall I’m doing OK,” he says, adding that he attributes his stable condition to good nutrition, mental stimulation and participation in social activities.
