Coping With Alzheimer's Disease

Special Health Edition ~ Alzheimer's Disease

BristowEnews.com was invited to an open house in Fairfax, VA and sat down with some of the staff of the organization and discussed how Alzheimer's affects millions of Americans.

Facts:

For every 72 seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the United States. There are currently 5 million Americans living with this Alzheimer's disease.

What is Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is an illness of the brain. It causes large number of nerve cells in your brain to die. The major symptom is the inability to remember things and think clearly. Doctors don't know what causes the disease. They know that is usually begins after the age of 60 and nearly half of people age 85 and older have Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's disease is somewhat relatively new in the medical field. Studies have only been conducted in the last 15 years and nearly or some of the information about this disease is somewhat obscured and non-existent. Speak to your local physician or nurse to find out more about this disease.

What happens when you have Alzheimer's disease?

The disease often starts slowly. People blame their forgetfulness to old age and over time, the disease progressively gets worse. People with this disease loose their ability to drive, cook a meal, take care of personal hygiene, and sometimes forget names of loved ones. Some people become worried, angry, and sometimes violent. At some point in time, people with this disease may need care nursing care such as feeding, bathing, etc at home or in a nursing home.

Signs of Alzheimer's disease

Early Signs:

 

Trouble remembering recent events.
Problems remembering names of people and places.
Trouble solving simple math problems.

Later Signs:

Forget how to brush the teeth and comb the hair.
Cannot remember names of common objects such as desK, house, apple, etc.
Wander away from home.

Other illness that causes Alzheimer-like signs:

Bad reaction to certain medications.
Depression
Not eating enough healthy foods, or too few vitamins and minerals in your body.
Brain tumors
Blood vessel disease
Thyroid problems

Treatment of Alzheimer's disease:

There are some medicines that can treat symptoms of Alzheimer's; however, there is no cure to date. Some medicines keep your memory loss to a minimum. These medicines work best if the disease is found early. Other medicines work to help you sleep better or feel less worried and depressed. Again, these medicines do not directly treat the disease. They do however, make you feel more comfortable.

Multi-infarct Dementia (pronounced Mull-tee in-farkt di-men-sha)

Unlike Alzheimer's disease, multi-infarct dementia causes serious memory loss. Signs of this disease can appear suddenly. Small strokes or changes in blood supply to the brain can cause memory loss and confusion. Major heart ailments such as strokes can increase and can make the disease worse. Again, taking care of high blood pressure can lower your chances of getting this disease.

What can family members do to help?

Family members and friends can encourage elderly parents and friends to live a normal and healthy life by exercising, visiting friends, and keeping up with the daily chores. Because this mental and physical exercise can remind them the time of the day, where you live, and what is happening at home and in the world. Some families use the following things to help you cope with memory loss:

Big Calendars
List of the plans for each day
Notes about safety in the home
Written directions for using common household items.

Important Information:

Alzheimer's Association
National Capital Area Chapter
11240 Waples Mill Road, Suite 402
Fairfax, VA 22030
1-800-272-3900
http://www.alz.org/nca

Elderly Locator
1-800-677-1116
http://www.eldercare.gov

This website provides family members about community resources such as home care, adult day care, and nursing homes. The Eldercare Locator is a service of the Administration of Aging and it is funded by the Federal Governement.

 

Date Published: 2007-09-05 06:00:00

Section: Health,