Forgetting things momentarily is normal - like where you parked the car or put your keys down - and as we age, it's perfectly normal for your memory to not be quite as it used to be. But if you don't feel like your or a loved one's memory loss is normal, if it's come on relatively suddenly and is happening more often than not, and it's affecting the ability to do normal tasks, then it's time to take action as the early signs of Alzheimer's are more common than we think.
It's thought that there are over 900,000 people living with dementia, which is caused by Alzheimer's disease, in the UK. Women are disproportionately affected, being twice as likely to develop the condition than men. Although research on why this is the case is in progress, some factors like hormonal changes (as estrogen has a protective effect on the brain and encourages healthy brain function), differences in sex chromosomes, brain structure, and life expectancy are thought to play a role why someone might enter the stages of Alzheimer's, per research published in the journal of Alzheimer's Research and Therapy.
