Stages Of Alzheimer's Disease Essay

The beginning and symptoms of Alzheimer's are usually very slow and gradual. Alzheimer’s hardly ever occurs before the age of 65. It occurs (according to the AHAF) in the following seven stages: In stage 1 There are no impairment- Unimpaired individuals experience no memory problems and none are evident to a health care professional during a medical interview. Stage 2 Is a very mild decline- Individuals at this stage feel as if they have memory lapses, especially in forgetting familiar words or names or the location of keys, eyeglasses, or other everyday objects. But these problems are not evident during a

However early diagnosis can give access to treatment and allow planning of future care. It helps families to come to terms with the prognosis. However it can produce fear or even denial. The individual and family will require a good source of information and support emotionally, physically and financially.

Alzheimer’s disease is incurable, but there are many stages, warning signs, and risk factors that can serve as detection devices for those who have older adults in their lives. One of the most common early signs of this form of dementia is memory loss. While it is normal for people to occasionally forget things, such as appointments and names, people with Alzheimer’s tend to forget these things more often and are not able to recall them even after a period of time. Other signs that signify a possible case of Alzheimer’s is difficulty performing familiar tasks (cooking, brushing teeth), problems with language (using odd words, failing to remember correct words), disorientation (forgetting where one lives, not knowing how he got to a certain place), problems with abstract thinking (forgetting what numbers represent), misplacing items (putting a hair brush in the freezer), moodiness, personality changes (confusion, suspicion, fearfulness), and loss of initiative

When a patient reaches this stage, it does not mean that their treatment is over. You must always be available to listen to any problems that the patient needs to discuss. Try to keep an eye on their emotion and psychological state.

Alzheimer’s Disease is a disease of the future. With the growing aged population, this disease, which affects primarily the elderly, will become of increasing relevance to the medical profession. Also, the high frequency of Alzheimer’s, and the high cost in labor, money, and material of caring for its victims shall put considerable burden on the society as a whole. Here, however, these issues are not going to be debated. Instead the pathology of Alzheimer’s will be reviewed to the extent it is known today.

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that accounts for sixty to seventy percent of Dementia cases. It is characterized by the development of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, the loss of connection between neurons in the brain and the death of nerve cells. There are two types of Alzheimer’s Early on-set Alzheimer’s which occur from the ages of thirty to sixty is very rare and makes up less than five percent of the cases of Alzheimer’s . The second type is Late on-set Alzheimer’s which is the most common type and it is found in those of ages sixty and up. The progression of Alzheimer’s is a lengthy progress from the time of diagnosis the average life expectancy is three to nine years. In the early stages people have difficulty with short term memory loss as the disease progresses symptoms include difficulties with language, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, loss of self-care and behavioral issues. As Alzheimer’s progresses a person slowly withdraws from family life and society due to the jumbled state of their memory. On a physical level the body’s physical function slowly degenerates and eventually leads to death.

Alzheimer’s disease gradually develops over a period of years and can last decades. The disease itself can be broken down into three main stages: the early stage, the moderate stage, and the severe stage. Each of the three stages exhibits a progression of the symptoms from the prior stage. In the first stage, the early stage, most patients generally have difficulty finding the right words, take a longer time to react, and struggle with short term memory loss (Alzheimer’s Disease). This stage can last anywhere from two to four years and is often when the disease is first diagnosed in

Alzheimer’s Dementia has seven stages. Stage one is no impairment or normal function. Stage two is very mild cognitive decline. This stage can be the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s or age-related changes such as forgetfulness. Stage three is mild cognitive decline. This is when doctors can diagnose the beginnings of Alzheimer’s. Common stage three difficulties include trouble remembering names, greater difficulty completing or staying on task, and increased trouble with organizing and planning. Stage four is moderate cognitive decline. Symptoms in this stage become more clear such as forgetting recent events, becoming moody or withdrawn, and greater ability to perform complex tasks. Stage five is moderately severe cognitive decline or mid-stage Alzheimer’s. During this stage the patient may not be able to remember his or her address or telephone number and become confused about where he or she is and what day it is. The patient will still be able remember significant details about his or her family and past. Stage six is severe cognitive decline. During this stage memory continues to worsen and personality changes may begin to take place. This stage also includes wandering, changes in sleep patterns, incontinence, and remembering names of family members. The final stage is seven: very severe decline or late-stage Alzheimer’s. In this final stage the patient will lose his or her ability to respond, have a

By stage three the decline will be noticed, more often, by friends or family that spend a regular amount of time with the patient. Diagnosis may be detected upon a detailed medical interview. The most typical difficulties include recalling the right name or word and greater difficulty performing regular everyday tasks. Sometimes losing valuable objects and increasing trouble with planning or organizing will be evident. Stage four is more of a moderate cognitive decline, more noticeable upon interview with physician. Patient will be experiencing loss of recollection of recent events and more impaired ability to perform arithmetic, when it wasn’t a complicated task before. Patient may also become more temperamental and withdrawn from social activities with friends and family. With stage five cognitive decline is modereately severe with gaps in memory and thinking process. Patient will need help selecting proper clothing related to the season. Patient will also experience trouble recalling telephone number and their own address and even the high school they attended. Although he or she may still remember significant details about themselves and their family members, they seem to experience difficulty with arithmetic. Struggling with counting backwards and by groups of fours or fives, etc.. By stage six, severe decline in cognitive abilities are noticeable and patients require assistance with toiletries. More changes develop in the decline of personality and behavior.

According to the webpage, “What are the 7 Signs of Alzheimer’s,” there are seven stages that someone with Alzheimer’s goes through. During the first and second stages, doctors and family members would not notice that the person has the disease because the memory loss is not quite visible yet. The third and fourth stages are when it starts to become noticeable. The person may have trouble coming up with

Imperative mental functions become severely diminished over time. The three main areas of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s are the frontal, temporal, and parietal. The frontal lobe controls emotions, voluntary behaviors, judgment, and any other higher mental processes. This part of your brain is the most used as well as where your personality is stored. This can explain any negative outbursts in patients. A person who perhaps never swore a day in their life may now have the mouth of a sailor. The next part, the temporal, contains and forms memories as well as auditory perception and speech. Typically, what a person with Alzheimer’s learns last they forget first. Sometimes families fear that their loved ones will not recognize them at all. However, in the early stages, family is the one thing they truly recognize. The final part affected is the parietal lobe. This part of the brain deals with sensations, spoken language, spatial orientation, and it processes vision. Since this area deals with spatial orientation, people may develop difficulties in willful movement. This is known as apraxia. In addition they may also suffer from aphasia, a language disorder in which people have difficulty expressing and making sense of words. Depending on the stage, Alzheimer’s patients may have moderate difficulty saying what they mean or it can get to the point where they can’t understand at

Patients like Eddie Bacon, who lost so much to the disease and still manage to live a happy life are

There are a number of different stages of Alzheimer’s disease which affect different aspects of a person life.

     The first signs of Alzheimer’s disease include difficulty in remembering recent events and performing familiar everyday tasks. As the disease progresses, the affected person may experience confusion, personality and behavior changes, impaired judgment, and difficulty finding words, finishing thoughts, or following directions. In the early and middle stages of AD, people with the illness may be painfully aware of their intellectual failings and what is yet to come. These changes occur at widely varying speeds in different people, and not all changes occur in everyone, but the outcome is always the same. Eventually, people with Alzheimer’s disease completely lose the ability to care for themselves and must be confined to bed with constant care. In the latest stages of disease the brain can no longer regulate body functions, and victims die of malnutrition, dehydration, infection, heart failure, or other complications. Alzheimer’s disease progresses slowly, taking between three to eighteen years to advance from the earliest symptoms to death; the average duration of the disease is eight years. Unfortunately, science has not yet found a cure.

Often times this disease has been called “the long good-bye” because the symptoms progress so gradually. Most often the disease shows itself in the elderly around the age of about eighty, and is rarely seen in people under the age of sixty-five. One of the characteristics of this disease that makes it so hard for scientists to find a cure, are the numerous factors that present themselves in different patients. It seems as if no two cases of Alzheimer’s can be exactly alike.