More than 4 million Americans today are affected with Alzheimer's disease, and that number is expected to escalate to approximately 12 million within the next 30 years. This serious disease is plaguing America in such a way that just about every individual has had an experience with someone with Alzheimer's in one way or another. Alzheimer's is a devastating disease that affects the mind, and more specifically your memory. 1 in 8 individuals over the age of 65 will develop it.
Risk Factors:
We currently don't know what exactly causes Alzheimer's, and it remains a disease that is diagnosed by eliminating other possibilities. However, experts have found a number of factors that reoccur in Alzheimer's patients. It is believed that a combination of the following factors can cause a person to be predisposed to develop Alzheimer's.
1. Family history of the disease - especially a parent or sibling.
2. Heart-disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, and diabetes.
3. Previous head injury
4. Environmental toxins
5. Advancing age
6. Stress- high levels of anxiety
Symptoms:
When an individual begins to develop Alzheimer's, there won't be any easily identifiable outward symptoms to use as evidence. As the disease progresses, memory lapses appear and slowly grow more serious. The individual may begin to forget the names of familiar people and places, forget the location of everyday objects, or have trouble finding the right words to express themselves. These symptoms are similar to that of a simply forgetful older mind. As we age, our memory isn't as sharp as it once was, however an individual with Alzheimer's will have a more noticeable and rapid decline in memory. If you notice this in a loved one, it is time to see a physician.
As time goes on and the disease progresses, the memory lapses will become more and more noticeable and serious. They will affect the individual's daily life, hobbies, and work. As this happens, the person will often develop other cognitive problems such as:
o General confusion, disoriented to date, time, and place.
o Apathy, irritability, depression, and anxiety.
o Troubles with language, math, abstract thinking.
o Personality changes
o Later on in the disease paranoia and delusions may occur.
o At the end of the disease's development, the individual may suffer total loss of self and control.
Main Stages of Alzheimer's Disease:
Experts have identified a number of stages to help define and group people suffering from this devastating and difficult disease. With no cure the best thing you can do is be aware of what this disease may bring in the future and use this knowledge to help plan care for your loved one.
The following are the Three Main Stages:
1. Early-State - In the early stage, the individual will suffer memory loss and possibly some other cognitive difficulties, however, they can continue to function independently.
2. Mid-Stage - In the mid-stage, the disease has progressed past basic memory troubles and the individual's mental abilities have continued to decline. They start to suffer personality changes and physical problems, and in turn become more dependent on caregivers.
3. Late-Stage - The late-stage is the most severe. Individuals will suffer complete deterioration of the personality and loss of control over bodily functions. They will become totally dependent on caregivers for even basic daily needs.
There is no set time as to when a person will progress from one stage to the other. One individual may move quickly from the early-stage to the mid-stage, while another may stay in the early-stage for several years. Every person is different. Here is a basic break down of the types of symptoms and their severity for each stage:
Symptoms of the Early-Stage:
o Confusion, forgets names and words, forgets their own history, less able to plan or think logically, poor judgment, and withdraws from social and mental challenges.
o Has trouble expressing themselves and comprehending reading material
o Becomes apathetic, anxious, agitated, insensitive to others' feelings, tired
o Hoards objects of little value, forgets to do things like eat or eats only one kind of food.
Symptoms of the Mid-Stage:
o Forgets recent events, if they can't remember they make something up instead.
o Trouble connecting names and faces of family and friends but still knows the difference between familiar and unfamiliar faces.
o Can no longer follow written or oral instructions, disoriented about the season, day of the week or time.
o Problems speaking, reading and writing, repeats stories
o Aggressive, suspicious, delusional, exaggeration of normal personality characteristics.
o Restless, pacing, talking to oneself, disoriented sleep-wake cycle.
Symptoms of the Late-Stage:
o Doesn't recognize familiar people, can no longer smile, doesn't speak or speaks incoherently, may cry or call out, groan or mumble. Cannot write or comprehend reading material.
o Cannot control their movements, cannot walk, stand or sit up without assistance. Can't easily swallow and may choke on food.
o Needs complete assistance with all daily activities, requires full-time care.
o Frequent infections, seizures, abnormal reflexes.
o May refuse to eat or drink, little response to touch, exhausted
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