Dementia Care: The Stages of Dementia
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease, the primary form of dementia in America, are scary words. Dementia is a progressive and debilitating disease that currently does not have a cure. Nearly 50 million people in the world have Alzheimer's disease, nearly 6 million of them live in the United States. The good news, if you are looking for any sort of a silver lining, is that not everybody who has dementia is in the final stages of this insidious disease, and advances are being developed every day that will, hopefully, one day put an end to dementia once and for all.
Until the day a cure is discovered, the disease will continue to progress through the stages. Some progressions will go faster than others and some individuals will face more severe symptoms than others will. To help doctors and researchers discuss the disease more effectively, a series of general stages was developed. The stages of the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) are described by the National Institute of Health as ways to "describe a patient’s ability to perform in six different areas of cognition and functioning: orientation, memory, judgment, home and hobbies, personal care, and community." The level of dementia care a senior requires is directly
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If your loved one did not suspect they had dementia before, this is the stage where it will likely be discovered and diagnosed. Completing daily tasks becomes a challenge due to worsening short-term memory. Personal care, hygiene, housework, and important events may be forgotten. This means bills may not be paid and medications may not be taken. Directions, time, and geography often cause confusion due because of disorientation. In the later part of stage 3, an individual may get lost in a familiar location. Dementia care is highly suggested at this stage. Many seniors will need private home care to remain safe and independent, and others will want to have support to get their lives in
“Dementia as a clinical syndrome is characterised by global cognitive impairment, which represents a decline from previous level of functioning, and is associated with impairment in functional abilities and, in many cases, behavioural and psychiatric disturbances” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK55480/
Dementia is common among a large population of elderly people. The disease affects not only the individual diagnosed, but also the caregivers that work towards making their life comfortable in the end. Understanding and learning about the disease is crucial in helping those that experience or live with someone who has dementia. The services and support that are currently in affect for elderly people with dementia and the caregivers is poor, and ineffective because of the lack of research and information on the topic.
Alzheimer’s disease was first defined in 1906 by a German psychiatrist, Alois Alzheimer. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. It is a progressive brain disorder in which the nerve cells in the brain gradually die off. It is estimated that 26 million people world-wide are afflicted by Alzheimer’s and of those, approximately 4.5 million live in the United States. It is said to be the seventh leading cause of death in the USA and the fifth leading cause of death for those over age 65. Seventeen percent of women and ten percent of men age 55 and older can expect to develop Alzheimer’s (apa.org, 2009). Researchers report that this disease is more prevalent in African Americans and Hispanics than in whites (Crandell, Crandell, and Zanden, 2009, p. 578).
What is Alzheimer ? Is Alzheimer 's more difficult for the patient or for the patient’s siblings?
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia affecting the older population. Symptoms are more noticeable over time due to the severity of the stages worsening. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. It accounts for fifty to eighty percent of dementia cases. Contrary to belief Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging. Different parts of the brain are affected causing multiple symptoms sometimes not diagnosed until later stages in the disease.
People with dementia may have problems with short-term memory, keeping track of their belongings, keeping up with plans, remembering appointments or travel dates. Many dementias are progressive. This means that symptoms start out slowly and gradually get worse with time. Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia are diagnosed based on careful medical history, a physical examination, laboratory tests, and the characteristic changes in thinking, day-to-day function and behavior related to each
The human brain is extraordinary organ. It stores our memories, vision, hearing, speech, and capable of executing executive higher reasoning and functions setting us apart from animals. Today we know more about the human brain because of medical advances and the development of technology. These brain disorders have been studied for years and many others would classify dementia as a mental illness because it causes cognitive impairments. The following paragraphs will discuss what dementia is, what the types of dementia are, perspectives of patients with dementia as well as the perspective of a caregiver to a dementia patient.
DEFINING AND DIAGNOSING DEMENTIA. (2005). In The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing. Retrieved from https://hodges.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://www.credoreference.com.hodges.
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia which is a brain disorder that impairs mental functioning. Dementia attacks the part of the brain which controls memory, language, and thought. It makes everyday tasks like remembering to brushing your teeth, or to pay your bills next to impossible to do, which is why so many people who are diagnosed with this disease are in complete care. This disease has different phases, the first being slight forgetfulness and then the persons emotions may heighten as well as language impairment, violent outbursts, loss of bladder control and from there it keeps getting worse until complete dysfunction of the brain occurs and eventually death, which most of the time is the result of infection.
Alzheimer’s disease, named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, is a disease that is on the rise in America and the rest of the world. People should learn as much as they want about this disease, because as you age, your chances of becoming an Alzheimer’s Disease, or AD, patient increases. It is estimated that approximately 3 percent of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have the illness, and more than half of all people over age 85 have the ailment.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive, terminal, degenerative brain disease. It is the fourth leading cause of death in adults and currently affects over four million people in the United States. This number is expected to increase over the next several years as the baby boomers age, until it reaches fourteen million by the year 2025.
This is the final stage of the three. Within this stage, they lose the ability to carry a conversation, respond to their environment properly, and control movement. As their cognitive skills and memory worsens, their personality changes and they require help with daily activities. At this stage, they may still be able to communicate but communicating their pain to someone becomes difficult for them. In the severe stage of Alzheimer's, mental function continues to decline and the disease has a growing impact on movement and physical capabilities.
The results of the study indicate that the dementia group showed a significant increase in more omission errors and substitution errors when compared to younger adults, older adults, and individuals with mild cognitive impairments. The study also concluded that the dementia group engaged in more irrelevant task actions in comparison to the other groups. More specifically, the dementia group had a decrease in ability to complete everyday tasks accurately due to cognitive impairments. The researchers indicate that their findings support the criteria for dementia that require cognitive deterioration leave an individual helpless when completing everyday life activities.
WIMO, A., WINBLAD, B., AGUERO-TORRES, H. & VON STRAUSS, E. 2003. The magnitude of dementia occurrence in the world. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord, 17, 63-7.
Alzheimer’s Disease is formed in the brain but yet, has no known cure or treatment. Alzheimer’s Disease has many symptoms. Memory is the biggest symptom along with mood swings and having a hard time with keeping a conversation. A patient with Alzheimer’s goes through 7 stages; The first stage, which is misplacing things or forgetting what something is used for, second stage, they start losing more of their memory and they begin to forget where they are or what they are doing, the third, fourth and fifth begin to mentally decline and need someone to take care of them and worsen over time.The sixth stage they begin to have an even more difficult time going to the bathroom and cleaning themselves or using electronic devices such as phones or televisions. The final stage, at which the long goodbye comes to an end, they now are mentally and physically gone. Some doctors prescribe medication to the patients to help deal with some of the symptoms.