Stages of Alzheimer's Disease

DEGENERATION STAGES OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

This paper examined the progress of Alzheimer's disease in patients through three degenerative stages of the disease. In the earlier stages of Alzheimer's disease, the most observable effects in the patient are psychological and cognitive, as opposed to physiological. Nevertheless, physiological changes are occurring in the earlier stages of the disease. This fact is important because it is in the earlier stages of the disease that strategies such as participation in regular physical exercise can slow physiological degeneration. It also is possible that slowing physiological degeneration will slow cognitive and psychological degeneration. Slowing the process of physiological degeneration in the Alzheimer's patient also will ease the burden on caregivers.

The old segment of the population of the United States is larger today than at any time in the past. This characterization of the old segment of the population is true in relation to (a) absolute numbers and (b) as a proportion of the total population. There are approximately 41 million people 65 years old and older in the United States population today. The number of those people age 65 and older today is greater than the number of teenagers in the population. It is projected that the number of people age 65 and older in the United States will increase by 2015 to 60 million persons.

The oldest-old cohort (76 years old and older) is the fastest-growin

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ities of daily living, and (d) physiology. These effects are summarized in Chart 1 (on the following page). Chart 1: Alzheimer's Disease Stages of Severity & Effects Stage ? Effect Type ? Mild Moderate Severe Behavior 1. Social withdrawal 2. Depression 3. Anxiety 4. confused by Complexity 1. Depression 2. Paranoia 3. Sleep Disturbances 4. Wandering 5. Emotional outbursts 1. Easily agitated 2. Prone to aggression 3. Paranoia 4. Has delusions Cognition 1. Short-term memory loss 2. Forgetting friends' names 3. Misplacing items 1. Difficulty in remembering family and caregivers 2. Difficult in word use 1. Loss of judgment 2. Unable to solve problems 3. Losing speck skills Daily Living 1. Spending less time on hobbies 2. Difficulty in managing money 3. Getting lost 1. Difficulty in caring for self 2. Difficulty in using household objects 1. Unable to feed self 2. Unable to dress self Physiology 1. Not observable 1. Not observable 1. Loss of bowel and bladder control Source: "Caring for Someone with Alzheimer's Disease", 2004 Although the information presented in Chart 1 (above on this page) does not indicate the presence of observable physiological effects in the earlier degenerative stages of A

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