Stages of Alzheimer's

Medical science has determined a lot of things through the years. It has discovered various diseases and its causes. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of unknowns. Doctors are unable to determine the cause of cancer, the cure for AIDS and even something that called Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's is considered to be a disorder that will affect one's mental and physical state. It normally happens to people 65 years of age and above that can affect anyone regardless of sex. 

There are seven known stages for this type of disorder and it only gets worse as time goes by. 

In the first stage, the individual and those around will not notice anything wrong. The person may forget a thing or two, which everyone experiences so there is no cause for alarm yet.

During the second stage, the person may already feel something wrong as this memory lapses happen more frequently. Again, there is no need yet to be alarmed because people tend to forget things due to aging.

The third stage is the time when someone can be suspected of having this disease. The person will falter at work or be unable to accomplish some simple tasks and people will take notice of these changes.

In the fourth stage, the individual can no longer handle certain activities and will require the assistance of those around to accomplish it.

The fifth stage is what doctors describe to be moderate Alzheimer's disease. The individual will not only forget other people but also be unable to recall certain facts about oneself. There will also be periods of disorientation.

In the sixth stage better known as moderately severe Alzheimer's, there will already mood swings. The patient may be happy and in the next minute appear hostile to those around. There will also be fecal and urinary incontinence just like a baby who is not yet toilet trained.

The seventh and final stage is called severe Alzheimer's. The individual will not be able to speak much and do anything anymore. The patient will probably just stare into space so there will be times that those around will have to carry and force feed to be able to stay alive.

Alzheimer's disease happens gradually. The only thing people can do is slow down the process before it gets to the succeeding stage by using drugs and giving proper care to the patient.

As the patient's condition gets worse, the person is no longer treated as a human being by merely as a subject with the disorder. This shouldn't be the case given that the individual at point in life accomplished a lot of things and never wanted this to happen in the end.

There are more than four million people in the United States that are diagnosed with this disorder. This number will definitely grow in the years to come as more and more Americans will reach the retirement age.

Those who have family members who are suffering from this disease should learn about the various stages to be able to understand what the patient is going through to give the proper help.

There are books and other information on the web as well as support groups since this disease affects not only the patient but also those who have to live with it.  

Tanda- tanda Seseorang Mengidap Alzheimer

Apabila perkataan Alzheimer disebutkan, perkara pertama yang terlintas di fikiran adalah kehilangan ingatan. Anggapan ini betul memandangkan doktor telah menentukan ini sebagai gangguan yang biasanya berlaku pada orang tua.

Terdapat banyak gejala Alzheimer dan doktor sering mengaitkannya dengan tujuh peringkat. Tidak ada punca kecemasan dalam dua peringkat pertama kerana orang yang paling pintar cenderung selalu melupakan perkara.

Dua peringkat pertama mungkin berlangsung selama empat tahun. Namun, apabila ini berlaku lebih kerap, pesakit mungkin sudah berada di tahap ketiga atau keempat dan ini akan bertambah buruk. Contoh mudah ialah jika individu tidak dapat menyelesaikan tugas mudah yang mudah dilakukan pada masa lalu seperti melakukan aritmetik asas.

Orang pasti akan melihat perubahannya. Inilah sebab mengapa beberapa ahli keluarga mengambil giliran mengawasi orang yang disayangi atau meminta jururawat mengawasi orang tersebut.

Tahap kelima lebih dikenali sebagai Alzheimer sederhana kerana selain tidak dapat mengingat nama atau melakukan sesuatu tanpa pertolongan, individu itu akan menjadi bingung dan kadang kala tersesat.

Satu langkah berjaga-jaga yang sering dilakukan ialah pesakit memakai kad pengenalan di leher atau diletakkan di dalam poket. Ini mengandungi nama, alamat dan orang kenalan yang harus dipanggil ketika ini berlaku.

Tahap keenam Alzheimer adalah ketika orang itu juga mula mengalami perubahan mood. Pesakit mungkin senang bercakap dengan orang lain apabila tiba-tiba semuanya berubah dan sikapnya sekarang memusuhi sesiapa sahaja yang berada di sana.

Bahagian yang lebih teruk mengenai gangguan semasa peringkat ini adalah bahawa orang itu akan bertindak seperti bayi. Tantrum mungkin dilemparkan tetapi bahagian yang lebih teruk adalah melihat pesakit membuang air besar pada dirinya sendiri. Pengasuh harus membersihkan kekacauan seolah-olah orang itu adalah bayi dan dinasihatkan untuk menggunakan lampin orang dewasa, yang lebih selesa ketika membersihkan kekacauan.

Tahap ketujuh Alzheimer tidak lagi buruk. Ini kerana sistem badan akan perlahan-lahan ditutup. Pesakit tidak akan bercakap atau melakukan apa-apa dan biasanya akan merenung ke angkasa.

Ia seperti orang yang melepaskan kehendak untuk hidup. Tubuh mungkin ada tetapi fikiran atau jiwa telah pergi ke tempat lain.

Sesiapa yang didiagnosis menghidap Alzheimer mempunyai masa tinggal kurang dari 10 tahun. Doktor hanya bertahan pada tahap ketiga dan keempat kerana gejala kehilangan ingatan jangka pendek hampir tidak dapat dilihat dan sering dikaitkan dengan penuaan.

Apa yang boleh dilakukan orang untuk mereka yang menghidap Alzheimer? Sayangnya, tidak banyak yang dapat dilakukan oleh seseorang kerana belum ada penawar untuk penyakit ini. Terdapat ubat-ubatan yang tersedia yang hanya dapat melambatkan proses sebelum menjadi lebih teruk tetapi mereka yang merawat hanya menunda perkara yang tidak dapat dielakkan.

Penyelidikan menunjukkan bahawa terdapat lebih daripada empat juta orang di negara ini yang menderita penyakit ini. Angka itu akan meningkat lebih tinggi kerana generasi baby boom juga mencapai usia yang sama.

Selagi ada ubat yang dapat melambatkan prosesnya, doktor mungkin dapat membeli sedikit lebih banyak masa sehingga orang itu dapat hidup untuk melihat hari penawarnya telah dibuat.

Alzheimer's Disease and Its Symptoms

Alzheimer's disease, also known as the most common form of dementia, is named after the German neurologist Dr. Alois Alzheimer who first identified the disease in 1907. The main concern with Alzheimer's disease is that it allows the rapid degeneration of healthy brain tissue associated with cognitive abilities such as judgment, comprehension and memory.

The root cause of this phenomenon in Alzheimer's disease remains unclear and is still under study. This degeneration of the brain tissues causes a steady decline in memory as well as a steady loss of essential mental abilities responsible for thought, memory, and language. More than four million of the older population in the US is known to be stricken with Alzheimer's disease. The number of people suffering from this debilitating condition is expected to triple within the next 20 years.

The most common symptoms of Alzheimer's are loss of memory, the decline of intellectual functions and sudden changes in personality. At the first stages of the disease, symptoms exhibited are patients becoming easily tired, upset and anxious.

With Alzheimer's disease the changes that happen may be gradual over time and not so sudden. But as the disease progresses, so does the Alzheimer's symptoms as they accelerate and become more serious and noticeable enough for the people involved to seek help. The usual course of the disease can take anything from five to ten years, from how the Alzheimer's symptoms develop from simple forgetfulness to showing up as severe dementia.

On the part of the patient, the initial Alzheimer's symptom that can be very frightening is the realization that something is happening to their memory. Although simple forgetfulness is not the only Alzheimer's symptom to look for, but it reaches the degree as even forgetting the names of people that the patient sees often, then the condition is a possible Alzheimer's symptom. The Alzheimer's symptom starts off with slight memory loss and confusion. It then ultimately leads to severe and irreversible mental impairment if left to develop without any form of initial treatment.

The Alzheimer's symptom will further lead to degeneration of a person's ability to remember, reason, learn and even imagine. The Alzheimer's symptom of forgetfulness can include the names of family members being forgotten as well as familiar everyday objects such as a comb and mirror.

Another possible symptom of the disease include difficulty experienced with abstract thinking. This symptom initially begins with typically mundane everyday things like not balancing a check book and may further develop into not understanding and recognizing numbers.

Difficulty finding the right word can also be an Alzheimer's symptom that challenges the patient with finding the correct words for expression. It will eventually lead to a diminished ability to follow conversations and further progress to affect one's reading and writing skills.

Disorientation with time and dates is also an evident symptom of Alzheimer's, even further deteriorating to the degree as to frequently losing themselves in even very familiar surroundings.

Loss of judgment is an Alzheimer's symptom that prevents the patient from solving everyday problems and doing simple tasks like cooking on the stove. This Alzheimer's symptom in its extreme form will lead to difficulty with anything that requires planning, decision-making and judgment.

Personality change is an Alzheimer's symptom that presents itself as the gradual development of mood swings, distrust, stubbornness and eventual withdrawal from the patient's usual social circle. Depression is also a coexistent Alzheimer's symptom alongside with growing restlessness. In its severe form, the Alzheimer's symptom further develops into anxiety, aggressiveness and inappropriate behavior.