How to Recognize the Alzheimers Stages


Alzheimers disease is generally thought to consist of three different stages of the illness, with a variety of symptoms that can appear with each stage. The intensity and severity of the symptoms will increase throughout the Alzheimers stages, ending with the most incapacitating symptoms that basically render the patient incapable of caring for himself. It is important to be familiar with the signs and symptoms of all of the Alzheimers stages, so that you can get an early diagnosis of the illness. This will help you to prepare better for what is to come, and perhaps manage the illness a bit more effectively. The early Alzheimers stage is sometimes the hardest to recognize, but there are key symptoms to watch for even at this early point.

First Stage

The first Alzheimers stage consists of symptoms like mild memory loss, lapses in judgment and subtle changes to the patients personality. You may see your family member develop a greater difficulty in remembering names and faces. In the course of a conversation, he may have more trouble with finding the right words, and he may even substitute completely different words for the ones that he is having difficulty remembering. You may see his temper flare as tasks and conversations become somewhat more challenging.

Middle Stage

This Alzheimers stage includes many of the symptoms that come to mind when you think of this disease. Your family member may begin to have difficulty recognizing family and friends, and he may confuse a brother with a nephew or a spouse with a cousin. You may notice that your family member asks repeatedly about the time of day or year, and that getting dressed becomes a much bigger challenge. You may see the patient put his shoes on the wrong feet or try to slip pajamas on over his clothing. This is also the Alzheimers stage where some patients begin to wander, leading to a great deal of concern and panic from family members when the patient cannot be located. Sometimes urinary and fecal incontinence become symptoms of this Alzheimers stage as well.

Final Stage

This Alzheimers stage is by far the most debilitating, and some patients cannot walk or even sit up without assistance. Incontinence is a frequent occurrence at this point, and eating becomes much more difficult as swallowing can cause choking. Your family member is probably not communicative at this Alzheimers stage, which means that you cannot tell at this point what your family member might want or need. This phase can be very difficult to manage, and is often when family members will place the patient into a full-time care facility.

Alzheimers is a difficult illness to deal with, both for the patient and family member caring for him. Recognizing the Alzheimers stages is the first step in managing this illness.

Activities For Alzheimer Patients

At this point, there is no cure for this progressive disease.

He found twisted bands of nerve fibers in the brain, as well as dense deposits on and around the nerve fibers. As the patient digresses where they can no longer control bodily functions or angry outbreaks, placing them in Alzheimers nursing homes may be the best thing the family can do for the patient. At this stage of Alzheimers disease, a person may begin to forget who family members are and get them confused with each other.

If you have elderly parents, aunts, uncles or grandparents, you want to be aware of what causes alzheimers disease, what the symptoms are, and how to recognize them.
It strikes at a much younger age and is generally more easily diagnosed. They also seem to show more abnormalities on chromosomes 1 and 14 than other patients. What Testing is used for Alzheimers Disease? There are new blood tests that can test for an Alzheimers gene with certain strains of Alzheimers. The most common mediacation used for Alzheimers disease at this phase is cholinesterase inhibitors.

Some of these Alzheimers disease statistics are quite shocking.
Acetylcholine is a chemical messenger that is used by the body for the purpose of memory and judgment. This chemical is also responsible for memory and learning. The next stage in the progression of Alzheimer disease is stage four.