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.

Dementia And Alzheimers

The Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE is often considered a standard test for people believed to have Alzheimers.

This is due to the fact that Alzheimers disease is very similar in symptoms to other forms of dementia. It is spread across all cultures and affects the same amount of males as it does females. Although some Alzheimers nursing homes have been known to mistreat their patients due to the nature of their ailment, government agencies and watchdog groups keep an eye on their practices to insure all patients receive the best level of care possible. In purely layman terms, the benefits of Lipitor Alzheimers can be seen when it causes patients to have less cholesterol in their blood thereby allowing the blood to siphon off extra cholesterol from the brain and thus contribute positively to improving the Alzheimers patients condition.

You also need to understand that even if these tests show that you are at higher risk, they still will not tell you at what age you will develop early onset Alzheimers.
The third stage is generally when family members or co-workers begin to notice a problem. The inability to remember is one of the early signs of Alzheimers disease. Sometimes people who are beginning to show the signs of Alzheimers will appear more withdrawn, frustrated or angry than usual. Patients may loose their ability to communicate, to swallow and they will need supervision. The early symptoms of this illness can surface a number of years before the disease progresses to the next phase of symptoms.

This does not mean that Alzheimers disease is a normal part of the aging process though.
However, there are also a lot of other symptoms that you need to know about as well. Thankfully these services are easily accessible and any psychologist will be able to put you in touch with them. This will not prove Alzheimers disease, but it can eliminate other possible causes of symptoms. If you dont know the facts, you have no idea what youd be giving to someone suffering from alzheimers disease and you may be doing more harm than good.