Off The Record

Man, 41, Diagnosed With Young Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Reveals The Early Symptoms He Encountered

Published on March 12, 2025

A guy in his 30s who began to suffer from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease has talked candidly about his initial symptoms prior to receiving a diagnosis.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the most prevalent type of dementia is Alzheimer’s, which is brought on by the accumulation of proteins in the brain in the form of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques, which gradually kill cells and cause the brain to atrophy.

More than 70% of patients are over 75 years old, and 6.9 million people over 65 in the US suffer from the degenerative illness that impairs memory and daily functioning.

Although it is uncommon to develop Alzheimer’s disease early in life, according to NHS estimates, one in thirteen individuals with the disease are younger than 65.

Fraser, a 41-year-old Australian father, has shared his experiences with the degenerative disease, which began to manifest in his 30s, on his YouTube channel.

He disclosed that he had been exhibiting symptoms for years prior to receiving a diagnosis, even though it was only made ten months earlier.

Watch the video below:

He explained: “So I got diagnosed eight months ago, and I think my symptoms probably started about two [to] two-and-a-half years before that.”

“It’s funny because I don’t remember what my symptoms really were initially, all I remember was having some pretty big memory flaws like I remember I was sitting down to watch a movie once and my partner’s gone, ‘yeah, we watched that like a month ago’.”

He revealed that despite rewatching the entire movie, he had “no memory of watching it whatsoever,” despite not watching many movies at the time, adding: “So it was a bit concerning, that was.”

Fraser disclosed that he had gone through similar episodes of memory loss but became concerned when his cognitive abilities were compromised.

“At some point, though, I started having some issues with my cognition more generally, and I think that was more getting closer to the diagnosis, where I noticed that,” he said.

“It wasn’t until even probably just a few months before the diagnosis, I noticed that I was having issues with just thinking, being able to think deeply. I find that I have more sort of surface level thinking, more shallow thinking.”

He disclosed that his memory problems started to interfere with his ability to recall specifics that people had told him. One such instance was a terrifying moment when he panicked when he couldn’t get through to his teenage daughter on the phone after she had previously informed him that she was going to the movie theater—a conversation he had forgotten they had had.

“I remember once, this is early on, I remember my daughter had told me numerous times throughout the day that she’d go to the movies that night and it would be sort of quite late with a friend, and it came to night time, and I started freaking out, thinking, ‘where’s my daughter?’, I was generally freaking out,” he said.

“I was driving to the nearby town trying to see from other friends, if she was with [them], if they’ve heard from her. And it got to a point where I was about to ring the police, like I was that concerned.”

“I’d been trying to call her, trying to phone, trying to message her, and just not getting through to her at all. So yeah, really freaking out. And then she ends up calling me, saying, like, ‘Hey, Dad, I’ve just been in the movies. Remember, I told you?'”

According to him, the family has since put in place a system whereby his teenage children text him to let him know where they are going, even if they have already discussed it with him. This way, if he starts to worry, he can check his texts and be reminded of their location.

Alzheimer’s cases that occur before the age of 65 are classified as early-onset, and although there is a cure, medicine can help manage symptoms.

Early symptoms may include forgetting recent conversations or events, while more severe phases of the illness will result in significant memory loss and impair daily functioning.

The Mayo Clinic states that in more severe cases, “loss of brain function can cause dehydration, poor nutrition or infection” and can be fatal.