Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease - Keeping and Eye on the People You Love

By Anna Ruth

Finding out that a loved one is experiencing the early stages of Alzheimer's and dementia is hard to bear, but there are a number of resources available to make looking after that family member more productive. Your family member might still choose to be as independent as possible, and you'll need to find facilities that will give you what you need to help them thrive. Here are some important facts about their problem to help you decide if you need to find additional treatment.

Alzheimer's and dementia are frequently linked together, since Alzheimer's is an overall situation of lost memory, along with other symptoms like depression or lack of attention, and on the other hand dementia is the sweeping deterioration of a mind. At the start of Alzheimer's, you will likely discover that your loved one can sometimes forget people's names or frequently used words that are used during normal communications. If this occurs very rarely, don't be concerned. However, if you notice that your family member is creating a made-up word to take the place of another word that's slipped their mind, or if they're becoming more and more withdrawn so they don't mess up you could be seeing the preliminary stages of Alzheimer's and dementia.

A lack of interest to do some things, or sometimes personality changes can be a sign of Alzheimer's and dementia. If someone has dementia, completing normal tasks can be a challenge. This means chores like eating lunch, tying laces, and getting dressed in the morning may be completed less frequently as the condition gets worse. The brain slows down, and neurotransmitters do not do their job as often. If you find that your parent or grandparent has started to put things in strange places around the home, such as putting a check book in between sofa cushions, or find a toothbrush in the dishwasher, this could be a sign that it's time to meet with the doctor.

In the advanced stages of Alzheimer's and dementia, you will note that it's difficult for your loved one to organize their feelings and thoughts, and it may be increasingly harder for your mom to recognize lifelong friends. Once you talk with your physician, you will be able to create a treatment plan for your loved one to help to consider their needs. Studies have shown that most patients last around 10 years after the initial diagnosis, but some even live twenty years after the disease has been detected.

To learn more about Alzheimer's and dementia proper care, visit www.alz.org. - 30309

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