Showing posts with label alzheimer information. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alzheimer information. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Different Stages Of Alzheimer

Medical science has determined lots of things through the years. It has discovered various diseases and its causes. Unfortunately, you may still find a lot of unknowns. Doctors are unable to determine the reason for cancer, the cure for AIDS and even something that called Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's is regarded as a disorder that will affect one's mental and physical state. It normally happens to people 65 years of age and above that can affect anyone regardless of sex.

There are seven known stages for this type of disorder and it only gets worse as time goes by.

In the first stage, the individual and those around will not notice anything wrong. The person may forget a few things, which everyone experiences so there isn't any cause for alarm yet.

During the second stage, the person may already feel something wrong as this memory lapses happen more frequently. Again, you don't have yet to be alarmed because people tend to forget things due to aging.

The third stage it's time when someone can be suspected of having this disease. The person will falter at work or be unable to accomplish some simple tasks and people will take notice of these changes.

In the fourth stage, the individual can no longer handle certain activities and will require the assistance of those around to accomplish it.

The fifth stage is what doctors describe to be moderate Alzheimer's disease. The individual will not only forget other people but also be unable to recall certain facts about oneself. There will also be periods of disorientation.

In the sixth stage better known as moderately severe Alzheimer's, there will already mood swings. The patient may be happy and in the next minute appear hostile to those around. There will also be fecal and urinary incontinence as being a baby who is not yet toilet trained.

The seventh and final stage is called severe Alzheimer's. The individual will be unable to speak much and do anything anymore. The patient will probably just stare into space so there will be times that those around will have to carry and force feed every single child stay alive.

Alzheimer's disease happens gradually. The thing people can do is slow down the process before it gets to the succeeding stage by using drugs and giving proper care to the patient.

As the patient's condition gets worse, the person is no longer treated as a human being by merely as a subject with the disorder. This shouldn't be the case given that the individual at point in life accomplished a lot of things and never wanted this to happen in the end.

There are more than four million people in america that are diagnosed with this disorder. This number will definitely grow in the years to come as more Americans will reach the retirement age.

Anyone who has family members who are suffering from this disease should find out about the various stages every single child understand what the patient is going through to give the proper help.

There are books and other information on the internet as well as support groups since this disease affects not only the patient but also anyone who has to live with it.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Alzheimer- A Degenerative Problem

As uncommon as the name of the disease sounds, its prevalence and incidence rates are not. In fact, almost four million people in the united states are affected by this problem. All can be affected, men or women, across all social status and economic position in life.

Alzheimer's is a progressive and degenerative problem under the umbrella of diseases called dementia. It is characterized by disorientation and impaired memory. It is apparently caused by an attack in the brain, affecting one's memory, thinking skills and judgment. Most patients will experience a change in language ability, in the manner they use their mental processes not to mention their behavior.

While anybody can be affected by this problem, only those that are older than age 65 experience the lagging in their thinking skills. Still, there are several who gets Alzheimer's even when they're just 30 years old but these cases are very rare and can only account for a small percentage of the total number of cases. One out of 10 people over the age 65 has Alzheimer's and nearly half of these patients are over 85 years old. In a national survey conducted in america, almost 19 million Americans have one family member who suffers from this dreaded problem.

As well as old age, family history of dementia can also predispose someone to the disease. This is because Alzheimer's is considered caused by a problem in the genetic mutations. Still, when you study the cases, Alzheimer's is commonly the result of a host of other factors besides genes. In fact, environmental factors such as hobbies and mental pursuits are things that can assist prevent the onset of the problem.

What is difficult with Alzheimer's is the fact its symptoms are basically the same with ordinary signs of old age. At the start, there will be some memory loss. The person with Alzheimer's will also experience confusion and disorientation even with things that they're used to doing. The trick is to make sure that one can recognize what a normal memory loss is against something of Alzheimer's caliber.

Often, you will see a gradual memory loss. They will find it hard to read or to write or to think clearly. After which they will experience a decline in a chance to perform tasks that are already automatic and routinary. Believe it or not, in cases that are already in the terminal stage, the patient may even forget how to brush their teeth or using a spoon and fork, something that is really pretty basic with many people.

This is one example of the difference of Alzheimer's from ordinary memory loss. Forgetfulness will not affect tasks that are routinary. There will also be difficulty in learning new things and in memorizing things. Some patients may even forget the language that they're speaking with while others will no longer recognize their family. Personality will change the way they communicate with other people and the way they behave.

There is actually no change in personality as such but due to the problems in their memory, they may appear aloof and suspicious perhaps because they cannot recognize the people that they know before. Some may even become extremely fearful and passive for the simple realization they cannot remember you. As the disease worsens, the patient will then become so incapable of taking care of themselves that they can require help even in eating and in sleeping.