Top 10 Blog Posts in June: #10. Alzheimer's - When Awareness Begins to Fade
In the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s, many people know something is changing. They feel it before anyone else does—a word that won’t come, a thought that slips away mid‑sentence, a familiar task that suddenly feels foreign. This awareness, called insight , is part of the brain’s self‑monitoring system. At first, it remains intact enough for a person to notice the difference and quietly compensate: making lists, avoiding complex tasks, or withdrawing from situations that expose the gaps. Families often see this as resilience, and it is. But it’s also the first sign that the mind is working harder to stay balanced. Over time, as the disease progresses, that insight begins to fade. The same changes that affect memory also affect self‑awareness. A person may no longer realize they’re repeating questions or misplacing items. They may insist everything is fine—not out of denial, but because the brain can no longer register its own decline. By the later stages, awareness of the illness itself...
