You can help provide for your loved one with Alzheimer’s by understanding more about how the disease progresses.
The stages don’t constantly fall into neat little boxes, and symptoms may differ, but the seven stages can be a guide and assist you plan for your friend or relative’s future care. Physicians call these various stages the progression of the disease.
There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, so it can help you to identify what to anticipate so you can formulate a plan to meet your loved one’s needs at every stage. There are no hard-and-fast lines between, say, early and moderate stages, but over time, you can certainly envisage changes such as those described below.
Stage 1: Normal outward behavior or before symptoms appear
As with numerous diseases, changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s begin long before symptoms are obvious.
Says one physician, “This period likely begins 10 to 15 years before people have symptoms. Currently, there is no treatment for the stage, but we hope that will one day have the medicines that can halt the progress before people have symptoms and prevent the disease.”
Symptoms:
- No perceptible clinical signs
Since the risks of Alzheimer’s increases with age, it’s important to keep up with routine primary care appointments to allow for screening to detect the earliest signs of any disease.
Stage 2: Mild cognitive impairment or basic forgetfulness
Let’s face it. Everyone can be forgetful at times and that’s apt to take place more often as we age. Very early stages of Alzheimer’s can mimic normal-aged forgetfulness.
Common problems:
- Slight changes in thinking and memory
- Forgetting words
- Difficulty making decisions over feeling inundated when doing so
- Trouble recollecting recent conversations or events
Please keep in mind that these symptoms might not be Alzheimer’s at all, but just routine changes due to aging.
Stage 3: Mild Alzheimer’s or noticeable memory difficulties
It’s at this juncture that you begin to see changes in your loved one’s thinking and rationalizing, including:
- Difficulty remembering newly read material, such as books or magazines.
- Planning and organizing are ever more troublesome
- Asking the same question over and over
- Having more difficulty recalling a name or word
- Can’t recollect names when meeting people the first time
It’s this at this stage that physicians may initially diagnose someone with Alzheimer’s, as their performance on memory tests begins to be impacted.
Stage 4: Moderate Alzheimer’s or more than just memory loss
At this stage, signs of the disease become more and more obvious. During this stage, which can last for quite a few years, a person will suffer major complications with memory. They may still recall important facts about their life, such as who is their spouse or what state they reside in. Their memory of the remote past will often be considerably better than their everyday memory, for instance, what they watched on the news or a chat from earlier in the day.
Says one physician, “Because of the damage to the brain cells, your loved one may also experience other personality changes, such as feeling suspicious of others, having less interest in things or feeling depressed. These kinds of symptoms can often be improved with medications.”
Stage 5: Moderately severe decline or decreased independence
In stage 5, major memory shortcomings begin to further impact one’s daily existence. At this stage, a person will frequently fail to recall details about themselves, such as their address or phone number. They might also lose their orientation to space (e.g., getting lost) and time (e.g., forgetting what day it is) more often.
At this stage, a person may also begin to need more help with routine daily tasks including getting dressed by themselves. They may, nonetheless, still be capable of bathing and using the bathroom without assistance. They will also be more apt to recall their loved ones and much of their own history, including childhood memories.
Emotional changes are also customary, including:
- Hallucinations. Seeing things that aren’t there.
- Delusions: False beliefs that you believe to be true
- Paranoia. The feeling that others are against you
Stage 6: Severe decline or severe Alzheimer’s disease
As the disease advances, your loved one might distinguish individual faces but forget a person’s name. They might also misidentify a person as someone else, for example, think their wife is their mother. Delusions might take root, for instance, thinking they need to go to work despite not having a job anymore.
He/she might also need help going to the bathroom.
It might be difficult to talk, but you can still bond with them via the senses. Many people feel that those with Alzheimer’s love listening to music, being read to or looking over old photos.
At this stage, your loved one might also struggle to:
- Feed themselves
- Swallow
- Get dressed
They might also undergo:
- Weight loss
- Skin infections
- Trouble walking
- Changes in sleeping patterns
Stage 7: Very severe decline or lack of physical control
A number of basic abilities in a person with Alzheimer’s, including eating, walking and sitting up, diminish during this final stage.
Other common complications of very severe Alzheimer’s:
- Little in any memory of recent events, personal history or childhood
- Weakened speech or capacity to communicate
- Obvious personality changes and behavioral issues
- Uncertainty of surroundings and overall environs
It’s at this stage that people require quite a bit of help from caregivers. Many families find that, as much as they want to, they simply can no longer care for their loved one at home. If this is you, research facilities such as nursing homes that deliver professional care day and night.
Some closing thoughts
Alzheimer’s evolution usually takes place over a period of four to 20 years, steadily getting worse over time. The life expectancy of a person with the disease fluctuates significantly. On average, someone with Alzheimer’s has between three and 11 years after initial diagnosis, however it is conceivable to live for 20 years or more with the disease.
Yes, presently there is no prevention or cure, but the more family and friends can discover about the stages of Alzheimer’s, the more they will understand what to envision and how best to offer help and support.