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
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.
·
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
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