- Alzheimer's disease - can be slowed down, it can not be cured
- Steps
- Treatment
- Symptoms and treatment
Stages of Alzheimer's disease
In Alzheimer's disease the person falls into a state of unconsciousness is not instantaneous. On the contrary, it is a long progressive process during which destroys human cognitive abilities, memory and suffering for several years, man's ability to do things that do not cause difficulties previously, is significantly reduced.
Experts distinguish several stages of Alzheimer's disease patients and their families is important to know what they are to properly plan patient care in the future. Each of the stages have symptoms typical of Alzheimer's disease.
The disease usually develops in the following way: a mild form of disease, moderate to severe form of the disease. It is important to understand that the steps may be different expressions and characteristics in each individual case. In some patients, the disease is slower and more stable form than the other.
Mild cognitive impairment
Each of us from time to time forget some things, especially evident with age. Slightly more than half of people over 65 years of age suffer from forgetfulness. A condition in which memory lapses, and some problems in human mental activity becomes more regular, but not significantly affect daily life, called mild cognitive impairment. In some patients, this condition is stable and does not deteriorate. Other for several years developing Alzheimer's disease.
The average severity in Alzheimer's disease
Changes in the brain, which eventually lead to Alzheimer's disease may begin to occur in the brains of 10-20 years before the diagnosis. In the brain, forming neurofibrillary tangles and plaques that damage the entire area of brain tissue, which greatly reduces its performance.
The majority of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 65 years and more. But in practice there are cases when the disease struck and younger people. This phenomenon is called the disease with early onset Alzheimer's disease, and is associated with changes in human genetics.
The first sign of an early or moderate forms of the disease are memory lapses. A person with a moderate form of Alzheimer's disease may forget where he put his keys, it can be difficult to remember the names of people and objects. Sometimes they are replaced by the words that you forget some other, or that come up with themselves. For example, a cat they may be called a tiger. The difference between the ordinary forgetfulness and Alzheimer's disease in that, in the latter case, memory lapses occur regularly and becoming longer.
With the development of the disease manifestation of its symptoms become more visible to relatives, friends and colleagues of the patient. Alzheimer's disease a person can constantly ask the same questions get lost in familiar places it, have difficulty remembering what he had just read or heard. He is very difficult, often almost impossible to perceive and remember new information. With the development of forgetfulness people hesitate, become more withdrawn and detached from society.
The other two hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the difficulty in organizing activities and misconceptions about things. In moderate form of the disease a person is exposed to changes of mood, there are changes in the character and behavior.
At this stage it can be diagnosed dementia, while checking the mental state of man, his ability to understand what is happening around, not to be confused in the facts of the biography, and the ability to solve complex problems (solving mathematical tasks or paying bills).
The average form of Alzheimer's disease
People suffering from moderate form of the disease, do not know their loved ones and friends. For example, at this stage, the patient may think that her niece - it's her daughter, and her husband, she would take her father. It will be difficult to remember your home address or phone number, she may not know what day of the week and did not remember the events of his past, for example, where she studied.
Patients with moderate form of hard to follow instructions and do things that they easily performed earlier, for example, to dress. Often they wear underwear on top of ordinary clothes or, for example, try to find lipstick in the refrigerator. Simple things, such as eating and personal hygiene in the course of developing the disease for these jobs are converted into increased complexity.
With the average form of Alzheimer's patients have trouble sleeping. A full night's sleep, they replace short during the day. But with the deterioration of most of the time, such patients can be carried out in a state of sleep
Dreams: how to understand our dreams
.
Become more pronounced changes in human behavior. At this stage, people experience hallucinations (the appearance of non-existent things), push delusions (false beliefs have completely), paranoid
Paranoia - explicit symptoms are not observed
(people accused of lying, stealing, cheating), and show signs of compulsive behavior, for example, all the while rubbing their hands or tear the fabric gets to their hands into tiny pieces. Tantrums can happen and have a tendency to violence, they can push or hit, and desperate scream.
Severe Alzheimer's Disease
People with a severe form of the disease is almost lose the ability to understand others. They almost do not speak, do not move themselves and can not take care of themselves. These people are totally dependent on parents or carers to help them in the administration of natural needs, such as eating, personal hygiene, toileting. They can not communicate normally, basically cry, moan or scream.
Alzheimer's disease in each individual case develops in different scenarios. Many people live with the disease 10 years, in others it takes for 20. By itself, Alzheimer's disease is rarely the cause of death of the patient. Fatal complications generally result diseases such as respiratory infection or fall.