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| ALZHEIMER |
Unbelievably, one out of ten people over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, in a recent statistic polls, almost 19 million Americans suffer one way or the other from this dreaded progressive disease. Below are some information that you will find useful about the disease.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative problem characterized by memory loss as well as loss in thinking skills. It is actually part of a constellation of memory and brain problems called dementia. It can lead to behavioral changes, loss of language skills, disorientation, confusion and increasing dependency. Most experts believe that Alzheimer’s is caused by a problem in the genetic make-up and is often associated with old age.
What are the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease?
What is however difficult with this problem is the fact that the onset of the disease will often manifest in symptoms often associated with forgetfulness when getting old. What separates this problem though is the fact that people with Alzheimer’s will eventually even forget normal routines and simple tasks. For instance, patients with Alzheimer’s can forget how to hold a spoon and fork while others will forget how to brush their teeth and take a bath. Believe it or not, some medical experts even say that some even forget hoe to breathe, something which comes quite naturally with a person.
One problem though with this is the fact that one can actually have no way of knowing whether it is ordinary forgetfulness or Alzheimer’s when it is just in the initial stages. It can start with ordinary forgetting of names and faces until it progresses to something major that can render the person totally incapacitated.
Who are affected by Alzheimer’s disease?
Although there are cases of Alzheimer’s that affected people in their 30s, most patients are over the age of 65 and a vast majority is over the age of 85. In addition to old age, experts believe that a family history of the same problem or of dementia may predispose someone to the disease. This is because experts pinpoint a defect in the genetic make up of the person who has Alzheimer’s disease.
People who are not much into mental pursuits or work that do not much involve mental strains will also most likely develop the disease compared to people who often stretch their mental muscles. In fact, one of the way to prevent the onset of dementia is to exercise the brain all the time especially during old age.
Even when one is already retired from work, old people should not forget to still use their minds by engaging in mental pursuits such as reading, answering crossword puzzles and even playing board games.
How do you diagnose Alzheimer's Disease?
As mentioned earlier, it is extremely difficult for a person to differentiate an ordinary case of forgetfulness and dementia at the beginning of the progression. Some of the symptoms of the disease such as slow mental processing and forgetfulness may be attributed to other problems such as thyroid gland problems, reactions to medications that are being taken, and even just a normal aging process.
To really ensure that the problem is indeed Alzheimer’s, doctors rule out other possibilities and conduct series of tests. The only way actually to conclusively determine the presence of Alzheimer’s is to examine a cross section of the brain tissue when a person is already dead.
2.Alzheimers-early-symptom
Alzheimer's, not just an old man's disease
Alzheimer's disease, we've all hear of it but do we really understand the disease? According to statistics, there are about 350,000 new cases of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed each year in the United States.
Doing the math, you could have more than 4.5 million Americans by the year 2050 that would be affected by the disease. A grimmer outlook indicates that by 2025, there will be 34 million people worldwide Alzheimer’s disease.
Let's tackle the issue step by step. Alzheimer's disease is a known brain disorder that is progressive and irreversible. It is still not known where and how the disorder develops in the human brain neither is there any sure fire cure for the disease. What is known by medical scientists is that the disease attacks slowly.
It takes its time, gnawing slowly at the victims' minds stealing memories and causing deterioration of brain functions. Alzheimer's is a disease that causes irreversible dementia and is always fatal.
It was German psychiatrist Dr. Alois Alzheimer who first identified the disease. At first he noted the disease's symptoms as "amnestic writing disordear," however when later studies were conducted Dr. Alzheimer found out that the symptoms were more than ordinary memory loss. It was far worse.
Dr. Alzheimer found the presence of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques in the brain. The good doctor presented his findings which were accepted by the medical community. And soon enough, by 1910 the name of the disease was accepted and became known as Alzheimer's disease.
The most common early symptoms of the disease are confusion, being inattentive and have problems with orientation, personality changes, experiencing short-term memory loss, language difficulties and mood swings. Probably the most obvious and striking early symptom of Alzheimer's is loss of short term memory.
At fist the victim will exhibits minor forgetfulness, but as the disease slowly progress he/she will start to forget a lot of things. However, older memories are oftentimes left untouched. Because of this, patients with Alzheimer's will start to be less energetic and spontaneous. As the disease progress, they will have trouble learning new things and reacting on outside stimuli which gets them all confused and causes them to exercise poor judgment. This is considered Stage 1 of the disease.
At Stage 2 the patient will now need assistance in performing complicated tasks. Speech and understanding is evidently slower. At this stage, Alzheimer's victims are already aware that they have the disease which causes a whole lot of problems like depression and restlessness.
At this point, only the distant past can be recalled and recent events are immediately forgotten. Patients will have difficulty telling time, date and where they are.
3.Alzheimer-care
Finding caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s disease
One of the most dreaded diseases in old age is Alzheimer’s disease. Although unlike cancer and heart problem, this is actually not fatal. In fact, people with Alzheimer’s can live for a long time with proper care. That is actually the problem most of the time.
With Alzheimer’s disease, the patient need to be taken cared of all the time. This is because the memory loss will often render the patient incapable of thinking and reasoning. Some will even forget how to do the simplest of tasks, like brushing their teeth and even eating with a spoon and fork.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive and degenerative disease that affects the brain. The problem often leads to massive memory loss not only in terms of one’s memories but also one’s learning. Patients will forget everything that they have learned even routinary tasks that they have learned when they were just tots. Some people will also find it hard to learn new things and may even lose their language abilities. They will have difficulties in their speech and in their writing.
Because of this, caring for a patient with Alzheimer’s disease can be extremely difficult. It is actually like caring for a newborn babe but while a baby will slowly learn to function independently, patients with Alzheimer’s will lose what they have learned and will slowly become more and more dependent with their caregivers. Thus, it is important to find a caregiver that is both professionally-capable and caring as they will determine the progress that the patient will have as well as their over all condition and behavior.
Here are some tips in finding a good caregiver for an Alzheimer’s patient.
Choose a professional
It is good to look for a person that is already well experienced in caring for people with Alzheimer’s. Not only will their experience come in handy when it comes to dealing with the patient’s medicines and medical routines, they will also be more patient because of prior knowledge.
One problem though in hiring these kinds of people is the money that you will shell out for their salaries. Private nurses and caregivers are expensive enough as it is without adding the burden of a specialization. If you just cannot afford to hire someone with enough experience, try one who has worked with old people and then give him or her materials that will make them familiar with the basics of the disease.
Choose someone you know
Nothing beats hiring someone that you already know or someone that you have already seen working. Patients with Alzheimer’s will have a lot of quirks and behavior that can be extremely irritating and difficult to deal with. Thus, it is important that you choose someone that you know will have a lot of patience and care.
Of course, if a member of the family can spare the time for the patient, that is good. If not, you can ask for recommendations from people that you know. Chances are they know someone who can take care of a patient with Alzheimer’s.
Choose someone strong
Although this is actually not a major issue, it is also important that you choose someone who can deal with the patient and the often back breaking tasks. Remember that because the patient is full- dependent on the person, they will sometimes need to carry them or guide them when walking.
4.Alzheimers-care-facility
Alzheimer's Care Facility
More than 4 million Americans are suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Statistics show that the number of sufferers will continue to increase as more people will reach the retirement age.
People who are diagnosed with the disorder do not have to be confined in the hospital. The best Alzheimer's care facility does not cost much because the patient can be treated in the comforts of one's home.
What are the changes that need to be done to the home? The good news is, none. Those who are taking care of the patient should just be sure it is clean, clutter and noise free at all times.
If the family members are busy with other things, an ad can be placed in the paper or someone can call the agency to have a caregiver look after the sufferer. These specialists are trained to give aid to the patient.
What activities are done in the care facility? For starters, memory exercises will be done so the patient can still remember the names of the family members. A basic one will be through the use of flash cards that have the name and photo of the person.
Most of the time, the caretaker will be beside the patient. Instead of doing nothing, it wouldn’t hurt to strike up a conversation. It does not have to be anything serious but just enough to keep the person active because an inactive mind may lead to depression.
The individual should always make eye-to-eye contact when talking to the patient at the same time speaking slowly and clearly for the other person to understand.
Alzheimer sufferers tend to wander off. The patient could walk to the end of the street or even walk farther without the caretaker even knowing and that is worse. A failsafe system must be put in place such as making sure the doors and windows are locked at all times.
Should the patient manage to get out, the second fail-safe will be to attach a bracelet or a card. This will make it easy for someone to return the person home or be informed where the sufferer can be picked up.
The Alzheimer's care facility is open 24/7 with most of the concentration spent at night. This is because the symptoms are more active during this time so the best way to calm the patient down is through a little exercise.
The patient can help do the dishes or work on the laundry. A cup of warm milk or tea can be given. If this doesn't work, perhaps going for a little stroll together outside for a little exercise may make the sufferer sleepy and go off to bed.
Some states have nursing homes and reputable home care facilities to treat the patient. There are numbers in the directory as well as in the Internet that people can inquire.
The individual should not be surprised should the place not accept just anyone who can no longer take on the burden of taking care of the loved one because of the limited space and the stage of the disease.
The person can choose to pay a huge sum or spend the remaining days with the loved one close to home to at least have a few good memories until the patient will finally go off to a better place.
The final stage is of course the hardest, both for the patient and their family. At Stage 3 the patient will start to lose control of a lot of bodily functions like simple chewing and swallowing. He/she will start getting the needed nutrients through a tube. At Stage 3, the patient will no longer remember basically anyone.
They will lose bowel and bladder control and they will become vulnerable to third party infections and diseases like pneumonia.
Once the patient become bedridden, things will only get worse. Respiratory problems will become more terrible.
It is apparent that the patient will need constant care. At this point, the most one can do is to make sure that the patient stays as comfortable as possible. At the terminal stage, death is inevitable.
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