Alzheimer’s is a Women’s Health Issue - Part 3

Coping Tips

     Due to the fact that medications that have been approved for the symptoms pf Alzheimer’s disease are highly limited, the general approach involves non-medicinal therapies.  These therapies are focused on the caregiver’s understanding of the sufferer’s anxiety, sleep disturbances, triggers for cognitive and behavioral issues, and overall needs as well as challenges. 

   With that being said, the following are suggested coping tips via the Alzheimer’s Association. 

·        Ensure that the person is comfortable and that their basic needs are being met

·        Avoid confrontation

·        Respond to all requests

·        Consider plausible causes for issues, such as disruptions, stimulating events, etc.

·        Maintain a regulated schedule for both sleep and meals

·        Assist with exercise

     One of the very best strategies for the disease appears to be compassion.  This is due to the fact that throughout the progression of the disease, those afflicted are able to retain their sense of self.  They remain able to expressly respond to human connection and warmth.  A great number of patients are also able to be soothed during difficult moments with the aid of a security object.  This object tends to be something that is comforting and soft, such as a stuffed animal, quilt or pillow. 

The Future of Treatment and Care for Alzheimer’s disease

    

Currently, there are a number of clinical trials underway as well as a great deal of research being conducted into the understanding of the disease.  This is causing the medical community, at large, to become quite hopeful that more effective treatment regimens will be uncovered in addition to a [possible] cure and/or preventative strategies. 

     The war on the disease received government backing in 2011 when President Obama signed the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA).  This Act calls for “an aggressive and coordinated national plan to attack Alzheimer’s disease and improve care and services.”  This initiative was further backed a year later via the Department of Health and Human Services National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease.  This is an impeccable framework that has been designed to identify the challenges while outlining Acton needed for the promotion of research in addition to the improvement of patient care. 

Current Findings

·        In February of 2014, it was released that low doses of Celexa or Cipramil were able to assist in the relieving of agitation within those suffering from the disease. 

·        Per a study that was published in January of 2014, cognitive training may assist patients with mental functioning.

·        Late within the year 2013, it was reported that several rare genetic variants were linked to the disease.  This is bringing researchers closer to determining risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. 

For Part 1 of this series, please visit http://womansed101.blogspot.com/2015/11/alzheimers-is-womens-health-issue.html

For Part 2 of this series, please visit http://womansed101.blogspot.com/2015/11/alzheimers-is-womens-health-issue-part-2.html

Alzheimer’s is a Women’s Health Issue - Part 2

Symptoms

       The disease of most notably known for its advanced symptoms.  These symptoms include the lack of remembering family members as well as a tendency to become disoriented or lost.  This is a condition that is progressive meaning that it begins with less severe signs.  The symptoms generally are so subtle that they are initially blamed on a passing illness, fatigue or stress.  Unfortunately, they begin to progress towards stages that are far more severe.  What does need to be fully noted is the fact that this is a disease that tends to differ patient to patient. 

       As brain tangles and plaques begin to increasingly interfere with cell connections the symptoms of the disease tend to become more pronounced.  The progression goes from virtually no impairment to a mild decline to moderate to severe to a highly severe decline.  “Memory problems” have been described via the National Institute on Aging as one of the very first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.  Those close to a person suffering from the disease may initially notice them having difficulties finding the proper words or having issue with the accomplishment of complex tasks.  Additionally, the sufferer may exhibit changes in their mood or poor judgment as well as they may begin to withdraw from activities. 

    However, the early changes are not radically significant.  Everyday tasks are still able to be accomplished with only a minor amount of assistance from friends and family.  As the disease progresses within a person, it will become noticeable that they are having difficulties in regards to becoming lost, with finances and money, there will be changes in mood and personality as well as the repetition of questions and the failure to complete tasks.  Additionally, caregivers will begin to notice that an Alzheimer’s patient will begin to experience paranoia, delusions as well as hallucinations. 

     Once a person has reached the middle stages of the disease, they tend to begin to develop

problems with depth perception, language, and math, the telling of time and reading.  Also, those that suffer from the disease will start to become agitated and anxious when those around them are unable to see the world as they currently do.  Sufferers will also become disoriented within places that should be quite familiar to them.

    The late stages of the disease will see patients requiring assistance in regards to the following tasks: walking, bathing, dressing, eating and more.  The ability to remember people that have traditionally been familiar to them becomes more and more difficult as physical health issues begin to arise, such as: bladder control difficulty, lack of bowel, difficulty swallowing, infections of the skin, seizures, and weight loss. 

Diagnosis

     As early Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis offers the best chance in regards to effective management of the disease.  It does need to be noted that at this time, there is no way to reverse the effect of the disease nor is there a cure.  What is available are methods, etc. to assist sufferers and their loved ones with coping with the disease.  With an early diagnosis, the stricken individual and their family are able to begin learning about Alzheimer’s while preparing for the days ahead of them.  This will include preparations pertaining to legal matters, financial matters as well as the planning of extended care.

    

Generally, the diagnosis involves a series of steps.  There is not a singular test for determining if a person has developed the disease.  With that being said, the process will be inclusive of the following:

·        A mental evaluation in order to asses a person’s sense of place and time, their ability to remember, communicate and comprehend as well as their ability to complete simple math problems.

·        A series of evaluations that test:

o   Language skills

o   Visual-motor coordination

o   Reasoning

o   Memory

·        A physical exam that includes:

o   Pulse

o   Blood pressure

o   Nutritional status

·        A brain scan for the detection of additional causes of dementia (such as a stroke)

·        Lab testing for the screening of physical issues outside of Alzheimer’s

·        A psychiatric evaluation that will afford an assessment of mood as well as other emotional factors that can lead to dementia like symptoms or have the ability to accompany Alzheimer’s

For Part 1 of this series, please visit http://womansed101.blogspot.com/2015/11/alzheimers-is-womens-health-issue.html

Alzheimer’s is a Women’s Health Issue

Part 1

     It is true that Alzheimer’s disease affects both women and men, but the condition is vastly gaining attention as a women’s health issue.  To date, there are no known physiological links between gender and the disease’s development; but current statistics indicate that women are being affected more than men.  Approximately 2/3 of Americans that find themselves diagnosed with the disease are women with greater than 60% being the caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. 

     This disease has a devastating impact on both the person diagnosed as well as their caregivers.  This alone makes it a high priority within the realm of women’s health issues. 

Understanding the Disease

       Alzheimer’s disease rests in the category of cognitive (mental and reasoning) disorders most commonly known as dementia.  It is defined via the Alzheimer’s Association as “a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life”.  There are a number of forms of dementia, with Alzheimer’s being among the most common of them.  This is a disease that makes up for an estimated 60 to 80% of all dementia cases and it is reported that greater than 5 million Americans are currently living with the disease. 

      Generally, it is accepted that Alzheimer’s is the disease of the aging, given the fact that the majority of its sufferers are above the age of 65.  What is not widely known is the fact that there are about 200,000 people under the age of 65 that currently suffer from the disease.  Therefore, Alzheimer’s is NOT a normal part of the aging process. 

Women’s Health

     As previously stated, both men and women can and do suffer from the disease, but women suffer greater effects of the disease.  The lifetime risk of a women for the development of Alzheimer’s by the age of 65 is 1 in 6.  This is compared to a man’s lifetime risk, which is 1 in 11.  To put things firmly into perspective for you, the risk for an older women becoming afflicted with Alzheimer’s is greater than her risk of suffering from breast cancer.  According to the Alzheimer’s Association, women in their 60’s are approximately twice as likely to develop the disease during the remainder of their lives as compared to breast cancer. 

Risk Factors

     There are three (widely accepted) risk factors for the disease, which include the following: being a woman, family history and advancing age.  It does need to be noted that although the risk factors have been identified, there is no clear indication (at this time) as to how they work.

    The greatest known risk factor is that of advancing age.  The likelihood of a person developing the disease tends to double every 5 years after the age of 65 and after 85 the likelihood nears 50%.  Family history appears to play a significant role as well.  Those that have had a close relative develop Alzheimer’s find themselves far more likely to develop the disease as opposed to someone that has no family ties to it.  The rick increases with the number of family members that suffer or have suffered from the disease. 

      

Women have a higher risk factor for the disease due to the fact that women tend to live longer than men.  Researchers also contend that additional explanations may also play into why being female increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. 

The Brain & Alzheimer’s

     This is a disease that attacks the brain causing issues with behavior, thinking as well as memory.  This involves brain plagues, which are abnormal protein fragment clusters that build between nerve cells.  The attacks also involve tangles, which are twisted strands of protein within dying and dead nerve cells.  These tangles and plagues interfere with the connections between brain cells creating cell death.  They are what is responsible for the progression of the disease as well as its symptoms. 

    The damage caused by the disease tends to [generally] start within the hippocampus, the region of the brain that is responsible for learning and memory. 

For Part 2, visit http://womansed101.blogspot.com/2015/11/alzheimers-is-womens-health-issue-part-2.html 

For Part 3 visit http://womansed101.blogspot.com/2015/11/alzheimers-is-womens-health-issue-part-3.html