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.

Alzheimers Support Groups

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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. With many patients, there may appear to be no change over the course of several weeks or months and then they will undergo a sudden downslide. By remaining flexible in your daily routine and providing a safe environment for your family member, you can do much to make your days of Alzheimers care a bit easier and more pleasant. Because the act of swallowing can cause choking at this stage, many will stop eating at this point as well. In fact it accounts for approximately 70% of all of the cases that have been diagnosed with dementia. This may become the time when an Alzheimers patient develops a tendency to wander and get lost, which becomes a huge safety issue for the family members who are caring for the person.

Stage 4 and 5 show the continued decline of memory and confusion can be a problem for patients.
The average life span of a patient with Alzheimers is 8 years, but they can live anywhere from 3 to 20 years. Install hand rails in the areas of the home where he might need additional assistance, like the bathtub and near the toilet. It will be difficult even for yourself to gage this as the development can vary by as much as 2 decades. Specifically, when this gene shows the variant APOE4, the person with this trait is more likely to develop Alzheimers disease. This was the first documented case of Alzheimers.

There really is no warning to the cause or symptoms of alzheimers disease, so in order to know that you are aware as possible of the onset of alzheimers disease you need to know what to look for.
This factor has lead doctors to believe that no single gene abnormality may be the cause of either type of Alzheimers disease. This Alzheimers stage includes many of the symptoms that come to mind when you think of this disease. Many of these tests focus on eliminating other possible causes of the patients symptoms rather than testing specifically for Alzheimers disease. Another important aspect of Alzheimers care is providing a safe environment for your loved one to live in. 1 million, 4.