BATON ROUGE — November marks National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, highlighting the most common form of dementia affecting an estimated one in nine Americans aged 65 and older. With millions impacted and many cases remaining undiagnosed, medical experts emphasize that identifying early symptoms has never been more critical.

According to Dr. Kaitlin Seibert, a behavioral neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic, the condition stems from an abnormal accumulation of amyloid plaques. These protein deposits build up in the brain’s memory center, impairing cell function and primarily triggering short-term memory loss.

Families often spot the initial changes before the individual does.

"Usually the first signs that we see are actually not noticed by the person with the memory trouble but with the people who love them," Dr. Seibert said.

Prompt recognition opens the door to emerging medical breakthroughs.

"For the first time ever, we actually have medications that can slow down Alzheimer's disease by clearing out some of the proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Seibert noted. "But these medications are only approved for the very, very earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease."