Alzheimer's Care: The Stages of Alzheimers
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive form of dementia that erodes the memories and cogntive skills of tens of millions of Americans every year. While this degenerative brain disorder follows a standard path of progression, no two seniors will have the same experience.
For those providing Alzheimer's care, it is important to understand the stages of the disease, although there are a number of factors that impact the speed at which a person will go through them. Some of the variables include your loved one's overall health, their age at diagnosis, and the stage they were at when diagnosed. For example, the average life span of somebody diagnosed with Alzheimers when they are 65 is eight to nine years. It is just over three years for a senior diagnosed at 90. Further, seniors who are diagnosed earlier are often in …show more content…
Constant care is almost always a necessity at the end.
The initial stages of Alzheimer's as noted on the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale are fairly unremarkable. Seniors may notice slight issues with memory lapses, but personal care and daily life are rarely interupted. Toward the end of the second stage, complex reasoning and intense social situations may become a problem. This is typically when people notice that something isn't quite right.
The third stage of the CDR scale starts to reveal the insidious nature of the disease. Daily tasks become challenging, directions can become confusing, and there is a noticeable impairment in short-term memory. By the end of stage three, seniors will face confusion and disorientation in familiar settings, have trouble with simple tasks such as bathing, grooming, or getting dressed, and may forget to take care of essential elements of life, such as paying the
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive form of dementia that erodes the memories and cogntive skills of tens of millions of Americans every year. While this degenerative brain disorder follows a standard path of progression, no two seniors will have the same experience.
For those providing Alzheimer's care, it is important to understand the stages of the disease, although there are a number of factors that impact the speed at which a person will go through them. Some of the variables include your loved one's overall health, their age at diagnosis, and the stage they were at when diagnosed. For example, the average life span of somebody diagnosed with Alzheimers when they are 65 is eight to nine years. It is just over three years for a senior diagnosed at 90. Further, seniors who are diagnosed earlier are often in …show more content…
Constant care is almost always a necessity at the end.
The initial stages of Alzheimer's as noted on the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale are fairly unremarkable. Seniors may notice slight issues with memory lapses, but personal care and daily life are rarely interupted. Toward the end of the second stage, complex reasoning and intense social situations may become a problem. This is typically when people notice that something isn't quite right.
The third stage of the CDR scale starts to reveal the insidious nature of the disease. Daily tasks become challenging, directions can become confusing, and there is a noticeable impairment in short-term memory. By the end of stage three, seniors will face confusion and disorientation in familiar settings, have trouble with simple tasks such as bathing, grooming, or getting dressed, and may forget to take care of essential elements of life, such as paying the