A person's mental and physical abilities deteriorate as he progresses through various stages of Alzheimer's disease. However, the way the disease manifests can vary quite widely from one person to another.

 

Knowing about Alzheimer's stages can help the caregivers plan for and cope with the disease better. The following is based on Dr. Reisberg's study which divides the disease into seven stages.

 

Stage 1: This is when no symptom of the disease is manifest and full mental and physical functions are retained.

 

Stage 2: At this stage, there is some loss of memory and the person may forget names of friends and family at times. The person is full aware that his mental functions are declining. This is often mistaken to be the result of normal ageing processes rather than as the beginning of Alzheimer's disease.

 

Stage 3: This is still an early stage of the disease, but the symptoms are more noticeable now. The sufferer may go into denial. There is an inability to concentrate on tasks and performance at work may deteriorate.

 

The person becomes more anxious. They get lost quite easily in unfamiliar territory. Misplacing objects is quite common at this stage. Their ability to remember recently acquired information deteriorates.

 

Stage 4: At this stage, the person can't perform complex tasks on his own. Examples include filing tax returns or handling finances in general. As a way out, they may want to avoid such situations altogether.

 

The ability to concentrate deteriorates further and so does memory. They may not be able to remember some events in their lives. Mood swings are common.

 

Stage 5: Now the patients will need assistance in ordinary tasks like picking appropriate clothes to wear. They may be unable to remember parts of their lives, although they will still remember basic information about themselves, their family and some friends.

 

Their sense of time begins to deteriorate as well.

 

Stage 6: This is a moderate to severe stage of Alzheimer's disease. Forgetfulness accelerates and they may not even remember the name of their spouse. Large chunks of their lives are forgotten.

 

They definitely need help to cope with routine activities like bathing, dressing, etc. Incontinence may set in at this stage. Their sleep patterns may be disturbed.

 

Their personality will likely undergo a complete change. They may become violent or exhibit obsessive behaviour.

 

Stage 7: This is severe Alzheimer's disease. The ability to speak is limited to less than a dozen words. They may lose the ability to walk, sit up or even hold their head up. This is a stage where the brain is apparently incapable of directing the body.

 

These stages of Alzheimer's disease may occur differently in various individuals. What is described above is a composite picture that can help to understand how a person's faculties diminish with the progress of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's Disease is a disease that impairs the brain and causes memory loss, particularly in the elderly. What in effect happens is that nerve cells in the brain die manifesting itself with symptoms of memory loss. Nerve cells are crucial to the process of recall. Although the disease develops slowly it will eventually lead to death. Alzheimer's disease is the 9th most common cause of death for those who are 65 years old or more. It is worth noting that the average time from diagnosis till death is approximately 8 years, although some suffers have lived for 20 years, before the disease leads to death.

 

Alzheimer's disease is very common among the elderly, particularly those who are over 65 years old. 36% of those who are 85 years old or more suffer from Alzheimer's disease. This is a substantial increase from those in their late 60's of whom around 4% suffer from the disease.

 

Alzheimer's develops slowly and the first signs of the disease are often seen as simple forgetfulness. Eventually the disease becomes noticeable through the sufferer not being able to make decisions, think clearly and begin to struggle with daily tasks we all take for granted. The most effective way to understand an manage or diagnose someone with Alzheimer's is by looking that the disease as a series of stages. Each stage has a number of symptoms that may be presenting in a patient in that stage of the disease. Not all sufferers present with the exact same symptoms and it is not uncommon for symptoms to overlap from one stage to the next. During the early stage can be quite difficult to diagnose the disease as it is not uncommon for sufferers to present symptoms one day and then appear to be healthy the next. Let us now look at the symptoms that are associated with each stage of the disease: early, middle and late.

 

During the early stage of the disease, the person may be prone to forgetfulness and find it difficult to make decisions. They may have trouble accounting for recent events or interactions with others and may also become muddled as to what day or month it is. This can make shopping difficult and they will struggle to manage their money and paying bills may become something they may not be able to cope with effectively. They are also prone to losing things such as their house keys, or where they parked the car in the car-park.

 

In the middle stage of the disease, life becomes increasingly more difficult as unhelpful behaviours become apparent, some of which include, inappropriate sexual and violent behaviour. Some of the psychological symptoms that develop are anger, eating problems and hallucinations. They can become suspicious and paranoid. They develop a fear of bathing also and can often be heard repeating speech. As their condition worsens and they become more forgetful, they will begin to require help dressing themselves. Other daily tasks such as bathing, brushing teeth, and taking medication may be activities that they will require help with at this stage of the disease. They need constant care every day. They lose the ability to communicate and understand and may not recognize their own family. Along with this goes the ability to read and write, including the loss of coordination.

 

The late stage of the disease the symptoms that develop mean that they will require more help from carers as they lose the ability to communicate. They are unable to walk and smile and lose the ability to perform personal hygiene routines, and they may develop incontinence. The loss of control of their physical abilities also leads to them needing help swallowing. They are also at risk of seizures, and often lose a large amount of weight. These symptoms are a guide to those seeking a general overview of Alzheimer's Disease, and should not be treated as a diagnosis. Always consult your doctor or medical physician for a more thorough examination and diagnosis.

Many people mistakenly use the terms dementia and Alzheimer's disease interchangeably, though the terms do not have the same meaning. Alzheimer's disease is in fact the most common form of dementia, while dementia describes a collection of symptoms which may be but are not necessarily caused by Alzheimer's disease. Confusion between the meanings of dementia and Alzheimer's disease stems from their similar symptoms, such as forgetfulness, time disorientation and a reduced ability to communicate effectively with others.

 

When a loved one is exhibiting symptoms of dementia, some people erroneously conclude that Alzheimer's disease is the cause. However, since some causes of dementia are treatable, making a distinction between the two and obtaining an accurate diagnosis for any condition that may exist may mean the difference between disease progression and treatment.

 

Dementia is a categorical term for disorders which affect the ability to reason, recall, think, communicate and move about. Dementia can stem from several different conditions, only one of which is Alzheimer's disease. Though Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia are other common conditions which cause dementia in the elderly. Vascular dementia is a condition in which arteries supplying blood to the brain become restricted, interrupting the supply of oxygen and other nutrients to the brain.

 

Vascular dementia often appears after a patient has had a stroke, and its progression may be slowed through the treatment of conditions that could lead to additional strokes, such as high blood pressure. Lewy body dementia is characterized by the presence of Lewy bodies, which are abnormal clusters of proteins that appear in the brain. Lewy bodies have been found in patients who have Lewy body dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Multiple forms of dementia can be observed in the same patient.

 

Though there are several other conditions that can cause dementia, some figures suggest that Alzheimer's disease is responsible for about 60 percent of dementia cases. Alzheimer's disease affects patients with more intensity as time goes on, and is sometimes dismissed in the early stages as forgetfulness that is expected to occur with age. While some degree of memory loss is to be expected as a healthy person ages, significant changes in memory and cognitive function warrant a visit to a dementia specialist for evaluation.

 

Remember, the symptoms of dementia do not necessarily suggest that a person has Alzheimer's disease. Thorough testing and evaluation by a dementia specialist is advised for anyone exhibiting the symptoms of dementia, especially if symptoms seem to be progressing.

Large amounts of aluminum are usually found in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer's. This has led others to think that the disease is caused by using aluminum cooking pots and pans or ingesting oral antacids or antiperspirants containing aluminum.

 

It's a nice thought but one with no scientific basis. Professor Luigi Amaducci of the Department of Neurologic & Psychiatric Sciences at the University Of Florence said other patients with Alzheimer's don't have aluminum plaques in the brain which rules out this metal as the cause of the disease.

 

"There has been some concern in recent years that dietary aluminum may lead to Alzheimer's disease or senile dementia in older people. This concern arises from the fact that greater levels of aluminum are found in brain tissue of people dying from Alzheimer's disease than in brain tissue from people dying from other causes," according to Dr. Myron Winick, director of the Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in The Columbia Encyclopedia of Nutrition.

 

"It is now generally agreed that the aluminum deposits in the brain are probably not a cause of the disease, but rather a consequence of it. It is known that cells die in specific regions of the brain in Alzheimer's patients, and the aluminum probably gets deposited on the debris left after a cell dies. Aluminum is relatively abundant in the earth's crust and is widely distributed throughout the world," Winick said.

 

"The levels of aluminum in ground water and drinking water are extremely high in some regions of the world, yet there is no greater incidence of Alzheimer's disease among the residents of those areas," Winick added.

 

The end result of Alzheimer's disease is death. With time, mental deterioration progresses to the point that the patient is bed-ridden and unable to care for himself. Many die of malnutrition or infection. This can happen a year after getting the disease.

 

"The course of the disease, which eventually can result in deterioration of the rest of the nervous system and other parts of the body and in loss of control over bladder and bowels, may range from one to 20 years. It may cut life expectancy by contributing to death from another cause, such as pneumonia or heart or kidney failure," said the editors of Consumer Guide's Family Health & Medical Guide.

 

"This devastating disorder contributes an enormous emotional and physical burden on other family members, and when admission to a nursing home or some other such facility becomes necessary, as it often does, sadness in the family is often compounded by guilt," revealed Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld of the New York Hospital - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in The Best Treatment.

Vital Vitamins For the Prevention of Alzheimer's disease and Dementia - Part 2

Come on Choline

Choline has been shown to have tremendous results with early onset Alzheimer's disease and dementia - with no side-effects reported at all on the recommended dose. In the following paragraphs you will be able to find out all you need to know....

Choline (considered to be part of the B vitamin complex) is the active ingredient in Lecithin and was first discovered in 1862 - but it was only in the last 20 years or so that it has been given any serious attention and its role in health really studied.

This ongoing work has shown that it is used by the body to manufacture and maintain healthy cell membranes and promote the manufacture of a specific neurotransmitter (brain chemical) that is used in memory storage. This neurotransmitter is acetylcholine and a decrease in the amount of this chemical (as you will already know!) has been linked in numerous studies to Alzheimer's disease. It is believed that this deficit is due to a decrease of an enzyme that converts dietary choline in to acetylcholine in the brain and therefore would seem the ideal solution...

A study comparing the treatment of Alzheimer's patients with choline to a placebo group (that didn't receive choline) showed that after 6 months the control group improved whilst the placebo group worsened when their cognition was tested. However, there is only one drawback with the use of choline.

Another study published in Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology detected significant improvement in mental performance after only one month of treatment with CDP-choline (which is excellent) but only in subjects with early-onset Alzheimer's.

As with all supplements you intend to start, it is worth checking with you G.P. or healthcare practitioner before you do to ask their advice on dosage, but in studies using choline dosages of 1000mg and 400mg three times daily were used without problem. I would recommend a daily dose of up to 850mg which has been shown to be well tolerated but also necessary to prevent organ damage in many individuals.

Dr. Steffan H. Abel D.C. has been involved in Chiropractic and healthcare research for over 20 years.

A MOST REVEALING NON-FICTION STORY CONCERNING the Alzheimer's Phenomenon, Memory loss and Alzheimer's activities. To know the enemy is the way to fight this disease and there is no better way than out of the pen of a sufferer himself.

A complete guide, from what is Alzheimer's disease? to Alzheimer's activities program. How family and caregivers can deal with the problem. It takes you through the FRUSTRATIONS AND FEARS of those afflicted by way of THE DIARY (of an Alzheimer's sufferer) included in this study. Learn the true facts about the Alzheimer's Disease.

Military strategists believe if you want to fight an enemy you should know all about that enemy. The first thing that one should do if you suspect, or if you have been diagnosed as being in the first phase of Alzheimer's disease, is to know all about the sickness. You should in fact become an expert on your illness.

Some early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: One of the very first signs of Alzheimer's disease is that a person becomes extremely forgetful - especially regarding recent events and the names of persons;

the person repeats her/himself and displaces objects and becomes aggressive and over-reacts on happenings or remarks.

When the author of this remarkable book was informed that he was in the first phase of the sickness he first panicked. By that time he was already exposed to the Alzheimer's disease phenomenon because of his involvement in a Home for the Aged where quite a number of persons were severely afflicted by the sickness. He knew very well that there is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease. Then he started to take stock of himself and decided that the only way to fight this problem was to in fact become and expert on Alzheimer's disease. And a program with Alzheimer's activities was part of his task.

After a number of years of virtually day and night research he came up with remarkable information regarding Alzheimer's. He kept record of his work and of his personal experience in the throes of problems as a result of memory loss and related emotional stress. His manuscript on the subject and his results started to attract attention.

It did not end there. John continued with his research and to apply the methods and program that culminated from his work and experiments. To quote the author:

"During the past five years I have done a lot of research about Alzheimer's disease and in the process I gradually compiled a program - Alzheimer's activities - that can help to counter and thwart the sickness. The program (Alzheimer's activities) is directed towards the renewal of memories and the establishment of new memories of persons in the early phases of the sickness and when the person is still clear of mind. By following the program (Alzheimer's activities) one can stay clear of mind even though your short-term memory fails you."

After reading his final manuscript we owe it to Alzheimer's Sufferers and their family and friends that this work should see the light! And if you are in any way connected with someone who has Alzheimer's disease or you are afflicted in the first phases, this is a book, A-Journey-of-Hope, you should simply acquire.

It also includes valuable information about those NUTRIENT SUPPLEMENTS the body needs to HEAL ITSELF as well as a complete program on HOW TO REVERSE MEMORY LOSS and be involved with a program in Alzheimer's activities.

What is Alzheimer's exactly? This particular disease can be described as a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain; and also happens to be the most common type of dementia. It is a horrible progressive terminal disease in which the patient's brain cells gradually die and slowly shut down many of the victim's body functions, like speech, thought patterns and memory. Research has shown that the largest risk factor for developing this disease is getting older. Having said that, Alzheimer's is a progressive neurological disorder of the elderly that does not necessarily have to be part of the normal aging process.

Discovering that you, or someone close to you has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's can be extremely upsetting, and the day to day caring of a loved one with this disease can be quite challenging. Another problem for families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's can be the financial cost, this cost being directly related to the severity of the disease. Alzheimer's is, in my opinion the cruelest of the diseases that strike the elderly, the one bit of good news being, that in most cases, it is not inherited. Although there is not a lot you can do to protect yourself from developing Alzheimer's, one thing you can do is to try and maintain a healthy lifestyle. This disease is the fourth largest cause of death in America, and is the most common type of dementia, with roughly 10% of people over 65 being found to develop it. Studies have shown that the healthier and happier the person with this disease is, the slower the speed of their decline There is currently no cure and not a great deal of treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

One of the medications indicated for the treatment of this disorder is called cholinesterase inhibitors. Of course, examination by a qualified medical person is needed to guarantee the correct diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other similar disorders. Before any course of treatment for Alzheimer's is undertaken, the patient's wishes and also those of the family should be considered. One question I would like to ask, and has been asked by others is, this disease was discovered about 100 years ago, so why has the treatment for it not advanced at a faster rate.

So they said your Dad has Alzheimer's? They did all that testing -- MRI, cat scans, blood tests, oxygen tests, liver function, more. Finally, the specialist said he had Alzheimer's.

So, does he? Well, let's just look at that Alzheimer's assumption. And, for that matter, remember that even the official diagnosis is only an assumption. That doctor should have said was, "Your father has a dementia of the Alzheimer's type," the medically correct terminology. That's because there is NO findable marker for Alzheimer's. No-one so far can know for sure. Yet.

Not that I'm a doctor. No, I'm a caregiver who used to be a reporter. Once I became a caregiver and learned the actual undetermined nature of the diagnosis of Alzheimer's, I started wondering.

As far as I can see, there is still little to definitively anchor a diagnosis to Alzheimer's. We look largely at behaviors, medical tests and default dagnosis -- which essentially says, "If we can't find anything else to account for this, it's Alzheimer's."

But, with those behaviors and tests, what else could account for the so-called Alzheimer's-like behaviors:

10 Things Instead of Alzheimer's:

1. After-effects of serious head injury earlier in life -- one third of all Alzheimer's patients;

2. Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, a condition of old age and fixable somewhat or completely;

3. Bad mix of medications -- fixable;

4. Severe vitamin B deficiency, fixable;

5. Cognitive damage after use of general anesthesia at age 60 and over;

6. Malnutrition deficiencies from poor digestion (lack of enzymes -- fixable), vitamins B and D (fixable);

7. Other dementias -- Korsakoff's; vascular; multi-infarct;

8. Failing and uncorrected sight and hearing, which is somewhat fixable;

9. Depression, fixable;

10.Familial dementia, probably genetic.

And supposing that a certain amount of old-age dementia happens simply because really old people often have a certain amount of dementia, as their immune systems drop down on the pathway to death. Supposing we could stop demonizing that.

The reason I say is not because I'm heartless about your suffering, but because your parent's dementia is not really ALL about you. It is partly about you because you're their child and may, or may not, be their caregiver.

As a non-family caregiver, I have observed over and over that family members who can be pretty matter-of-fact about the issues, of course, do a lot better being caregivers. The problem is that in our society we respond to BIG fears in an over-big way. All the publicity about Alzheimer's makes everyone terrified about dementia. The real terror, of course, being "What if I get that?"

Well, what if you do get that? Having dementia in old age is not such a big deal as you right now think it is. Yes, it certainly changes normal life but so does old age. Real old age is much slower, much quieter, usually much less stressful in many ways than your life.

Most people with dementia are not running away from home, getting wild and out of control and generally making everyone miserable. They're just very old and they have dementia. Which makes them inaccurate rather than anything else.

The best thing you can do as a family member is:

1. Acknowledge that Alzheimer's may well not be Alzheimer's at all;

2. Understand who is having the problem -- often the caregiver;

3. Deal with personal fear in an honest way;

4. Hand the job of caregiving over to someone else if you can't do it well.