Signs Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease and How to Care?
Aging as an older person can bring many challenges, and here we will discuss the signs that show Alzheimer’s is present and the consequences it brings.
At Best at Home Caregiving, we’re here to care for your loved ones from the comfort of their homes.
During these last readings, we learned that Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to perform simple tasks. Today we present some signs that Alzheimer’s has arrived in your life and the consequences of the degeneration of neurons.
In the United States, some 5.8 million people aged 65 or older have Alzheimer’s disease. Of these, 80% are 75 years of age or older. Of the approximately 50 million people with dementia worldwide, an estimated 60-70% have Alzheimer’s disease.
The first signs of the disease are forgetfulness of recent events or conversations. As the disease progresses, a person with Alzheimer’s will have severe memory impairment and lose the ability to perform everyday tasks.
Memory Impairment
Everyone can have occasional mental lapses, regardless of age, but the memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease persists, worsens, and affects the ability to function at work and home.
People with Alzheimer’s disease may exhibit the following behaviors:
- Getting lost in places, they already know
- Repeating statements and questions over and over again
- Forgetting the names of family members and everyday objects
- Consistently placing personal items in the wrong place, often in absurd places
- Forgetting conversations, appointments, or events and not remembering them later
- Having trouble identifying objects with the correct words, expressing thoughts, or participating in conversations
Thinking and reasoning
Alzheimer’s disease causes problems concentrating and thinking, especially about abstract concepts such as numbers.
Multi-tasking is also particularly difficult – keeping track of finances, catching up on bills, and paying bills on time can be challenging.
Eventually, a person with Alzheimer’s disease cannot recognize and manage numbers.
Making judgments and decisions
Alzheimer’s disease causes an impaired ability to make reasonable decisions and judgments in everyday situations.
For example, a person may make poor or unusual decisions in social interactions or wear inappropriate clothing for the weather.
It may be more difficult to respond effectively to everyday problems, such as if food burns in the kitchen or an unforeseen situation while driving.
Planning and carrying out family activities
As the disease worsens, activities that were once part of the routine and required sequential steps, such as planning and preparing a meal or playing a favorite game, become difficult.
Over time, people with advanced Alzheimer’s disease often forget how to perform basic tasks, such as dressing and bathing.
As we saw before, check out how to act in these situations.
Personality and behavioral changes
The brain changes that occur in Alzheimer’s disease may affect mood and behavior. Problems may include the following.
- Apathy
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Disorientation
- Loss of inhibition
- Social withdrawal
- Distrust of others
- Changes in sleep patterns
- Irritability and aggressiveness
- Delusions, such as believing they have been robbed
Preserved skills
Many essential skills are preserved for long periods, even as symptoms worsen. Preserved skills may include reading or listening to books, storytelling and remembering, singing, music, dancing, drawing, or crafts.
These skills may be preserved longer because they are controlled by a part of the brain that is affected later in the course of the disease.
Contact us at 844-544-2378 and our care managers will provide you with the plan you and your loved ones need. Based on your needs, we will provide you with the best in-home caregiver to care for and support your loved ones.
