There's a specific kind of moment a lot of us are living through right now. You're on a video call with your parents, half scrolling, when your mother tells you a story. The same one she told you last Sunday. You smile, don't mention it.

Later that week, your father misplaces his glasses for the third time this month, and it becomes a joke in the family group chat.

Then there's the pause. The one where your mum is mid-sentence, reaching for a word, and it just doesn't come. She laughs, says her memory isn't what it used to be, and moves on. So do you.

We're trained to read all of this as nothing, just what happens when people get older. And to be fair, most of the time, that's exactly what it is. 

Brains slow down with age the same way knees get creakier and eyesight gets weaker; a repeated story or a misplaced pair of glasses isn't a diagnosis, and it doesn't mean Alzheimer's is waiting around the corner.

But doctors who specialise in ageing brains say there's a real difference between this ordinary, everyday forgetfulness and the kind that actually signals something more serious. And not knowing where that line is, is exactly what costs families the years when help would have mattered most.

So what actually is Alzheimer's?

To answer that, it helps to know what Alzheimer's actually is, and how it's different from your parents just having an off day.

Alzheimer's is the most common form........

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