Alzheimer's Disease – What Signs Can Tip You Off?

One of the most common forms of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's robs you of intellectual and social abilities and interferes with regular life. About 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's. This disease usually affects senior over the age of 65. As the population ages this number is expected to quadruple.

Now, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease. There is progress being made by researchers to improve the quality of life for those who have Alzheimer's. Drugs are being discovered and studied which may lead to treatments of the disease.

If you have been a caretaker of a loved one with Alzheimer's, or have a loved one suffering with it, you know that it takes patience and love to keep you and them going.

If you think a loved one may be showing early signs of Alzheimer's, what do you look for?

One of the most prominent signs is forgetfulness. It starts out with occasional forgetting simple directions or recent events. It progressively gets worse until the patient may forget even family names and objects they see every day. They also may repeat things they've already told someone, and put objects down and forget where they placed them. On the other hand, they might put something away so they will remember where they put it, and put it in such an illogical place that no one can find it.

Early Alzheimer's patients have trouble in conversation in finding the right word to say. They may have a hard time following conversations or expressing their feelings. Eventually their reading and writing ability will also be affected.

Abstract thinking is something else that these patients have. They may suddenly be able to deal with numbers, especially in balancing the checkbook. Disorientation causes them to lose track of time, and it is easier for them to get lost. They may feel they are in unfamiliar surroundings even if they are home.

They have trouble with everyday problems, such as knowing that food has been on the stove too long. They eventually have problems dealing with planning, judgment, and decision-making. Familiar tasks become a struggle, even the basic activities like dressing or remembering to bathe.

One of the most distressing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease is the personality changes that affect them. They have extreme mood swings and that is often accompanied by depression. They may begin distrusting those around them, be increasingly stubborn, and withdraw from family and friends. As they get progressively worse, they may become defiant, stubborn, aggressive, and take part in inappropriate behavior.

One report tells of a wonderful woman, good mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. When her family was forced to put her in a nursing home, she became aggressive to other patients and began using language she never would have dreamed of using before she fell ill. The staff had a hard time in restraining her in the nursing home. They found she was sneaking in to other patient's rooms, uncovering them, and leaving them. This was so unlike the mother and grandmother they knew, they had a hard time even visiting. Most of the time, she wouldn't remember her daughter being there that morning, and her family finally put an erasable board in her room so her visitors could right their name and the date they visited. That allowed family to know who was there and when.

Unfortunately, families don't often recognize the onset of Alzheimer's because it starts out slowly. There usually are no sudden changes in their personality to alert family members there is a problem. As the symptoms gradually get worse, or they realize memory is fleeting for their loved one, they may not realize until the patient is far into the advanced stages of this disease.

How the disease progresses and what the average survival rate will be depends on the individual. The average survival rate is eight years. Some live fewer years, and some could live up to 20 years with the disease. People with Alzheimer's eventually will no longer be able to take care of themselves. This leaves loved ones with the burden of deciding whether to place the patient in a long-term care facility or try to take care of them at home. It's a difficult decision and everyone must realize that it takes considerable attention, love, and patience to deal with the problems that come with Alzheimer's disease.