Blood test for Alzheimer's could be available on the NHS in just FIVE years, ... trends now
Giving out money
Giving out cash to strangers could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's.
That is according to research by USC and Bar-Ilan University in Israel, which linked financial altruism to the first stages of the disease.
The study tested the theory on 67 adults around the age of 70.
The participants were put in pairs with people they had never met, and were given $10 (£8) to distribute between themselves and the other.
Neurological tests were given to the participants to judge their cognitive state and their potential risk of developing Alzheimer's.
The results, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, suggested those who were at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's were also more willing to hand out money to the person they had never met.
Dr Duke Han, a neuropsychology professor at USC who led the research, said: 'Trouble handling money is thought to be one of the early signs of Alzheimer's disease, and this finding supports that notion.'
Changes in humour and swearing more are all signs of Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) — a type of dementia that causes problems with behaviour and language. According to experts bad parking, and dressing scruffy are also signs of the memory-robbing disease. Graphic shows: Six signs of Alzheimer's disease
Changes to humour
Starting to watch slapstick comedy classics like Airplane and Mr Bean could be another sign of Alzheimer's.
Researchers at University College London found people who had the disease were more likely to enjoy watching slapstick, absurdist or satirical comedy compared to other people of the same age.
A questionnaire was given to friends and relatives of 48 people with Alzheimer's and FTD.
They were asked about their loved one's preferences for different types of comedy and whether their taste had shifted over the past 15 years.
Researchers asked if they were a fan of slapstick comedy such as Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean, satirical comedy such as South Park or absurdist comedy like The Mighty Boosh.
Family and friends were also asked if they had noticed any inappropriate humour in recent years.
According to the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease in 2015, people with the disease start to prefer slapstick jokes nine years before typical dementia symptoms begin to show.
It also found people with FTD were more likely to find tragic events funny, or laugh at things others would not find funny like a badly parked car or barking dog.
These changes in humour in could be caused by the brain shrinking in the frontal lobe, researchers say.
Dressing scruffy
Making fashion disasters, struggling to piece together clothes that match and wearing things that are not weather-appropriate could be another sign of Alzheimer's.
Researchers at the universities of Kent and York described how people suffering with
