Episode 61 - What Are The Symptoms Of Alzheimer's Disease?
Hi there. I'm Diane Carbo with Caregiver Relief. Thanks for visiting us today. Our website is for caregivers. We know that being a caregiver can be challenging, but we're here to help. Our website is full of useful information that can make your life easier. So if you want to stay up to date with our latest content, be sure to subscribe to our email list.
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Thanks for watching, and we look forward to supporting you on your caregiving journey. So today's lesson we are gonna talk about the symptoms. What are the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease? Alzheimer's is a degenerative brain disorder that can bring about subtle, yet progressive changes in your thinking, abilities and behavior.
The first signs may include memory problems or difficulty finding the right word as the disease progresses trouble, understanding visual images and spatial relationships could become more challenging. Confusion and behavioral changes interfering with daily activity may arise as well. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive disorder of the brain, and it can start during different ages of life.
Late onset Alzheimer's disease typically starts in later stages of life in the mid sixties or later. And I want to note here that you have to understand that developing dementia is not a normal aging process. On average a person with Alzheimer lives four to eight years after diagnosis. There are some that can live as long as 20 years, depending on the other medical conditions that they have.
Early onset Alzheimer's disease, although very rare, appears as early as 30 years old. Research shows profound changes forming within the brain over 10 years before memory and thinking problems appear in most related dementias. I want to address the risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease. As we age, our risk of Alzheimer's disease increases.
Certain mutations to the gene can also increase your chances, as well as other factors like head trauma and untreated depression. Additionally, specific medical conditions such as hypertension, that's high blood pressure or diabetes may raise the likelihood you could find yourself dealing with this debilitating condition in years ahead.
Researchers believe two proteins called amyloid plaques are early signs of Alzheimer's. These proteins accumulate slowly until they reach levels that block brain signals between neurons and fatally damaged brain cells. Ultimately the brain changes lead to a decline in cognition. That's your thinking process, behavior and personality functions.
Now I'd like to tell you about mild cognitive impairment. This is a memory disorder that occurs as we age. It is a normal process of aging because as we age, we take a little longer to process information a little longer to retrieve a memory, and we have an occasional word finding problem. Mild cognitive impairment can be a precursor to developing Alzheimer's disease.
However, not everyone that has mild cognitive impairment will develop Alzheimer's. As Alzheimer's disease progresses, loved ones may notice subtle yet significant changes in a person.
Memory loss that disrupts daily life and impaired judgment can lead to bad decisions are the first symptoms as our difficulty completing normal daily tasks like bathing or having trouble handling money or paying bills. In the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, a person's sense of spontaneity or their ability to initiate a task will decrease.
I know many family members tell me that the first thing they observed in a person with Alzheimer's disease was their lack of interest in life. They became listless and apathetic. Most people dismiss these symptoms of Alzheimer's disease as depression, or even laziness as the person's ability to finish familiar task takes longer and their family member starts misplacing things. They start to realize that something is wrong. They may repeat questions often along the way due to the memory loss that they're experiencing. The this occurs because they lose the ability to retain information. Additionally, forgetting events or having trouble finding a familiar place combined with challenges solving problems can lead an individual towards wandering off and getting lost needlessly. I want to share a story about Bob. Bob was a neighbor.
He was the go-to person for anything that needed to be fixed in the neighborhood. He had a reputation in the neighborhood for being able to fix anything. Bob was outgoing and enjoyed being outside, talking with everyone. Bob was an owner of an auto repair shop in the community. He was married and had two adult children that lived in other states.
Over time, the neighbors started to notice that Bob was scheduling appointments to fix something and wouldn't show up, and that was really unlike him. Yeah, in the beginning, Bob was able to cover up his forgetfulness and use various excuses. Then his employee started to notice that he would forget the name of a very regular customer that he knew for decades, maybe.
They became concerned when he was struggling to calculate the estimates for his clients. Something that once was so easy for him to do now seemed to take so much longer. His wife became concerned when she had calls from different vendors that had not been paid in a while. Then there were times when he would pay something twice.
Bob had his own toolbox. It took pride in his office and waiting room. Everything was always neat, cleaned and organized. Over time, the office started to look cluttered. Bob stopped cleaning the waiting room and the bathrooms.
He was starting to have some issues with his thinking skills. Behavioral symptoms such as anxiety or aggression can manifest sudden changes in mood and personality. All these are indicators of mild stages of this progressive disorder needing further medical evaluation. Poor Bob started to experience terrible anxiety. At times, this once very friendly man became argumentative. His wife dismissed these changes as working too hard and stress. It was a situation when his oldest son and family came to visit. That was that made everyone realize that something more was going on than stress.
Bob was out to lunch with his son and grandkids having lunch. Of course, Bob wanted to drive. Everyone got in his vehicle and they were heading to their favorite diner. This was a place that had been going to for years since his adult children were young. As Bob was driving, he became lost. At first his son and grandkids thought that Bob was pretending.
It was when he responded with anger, frustration, and fear that they realized something was not right and Bob needed further assessment by his healthcare provider. Here's a list of some early signs of Alzheimer's. Problems may include memory loss that disrupts daily life, poor judgment, leading to bad decision.
Losing track of dates or knowing current location, taking longer to complete normal daily tasks, repeating questions or forgetting recently learned information or not able to remember recent events, trouble handling money or paying bills. Challenges in planning or solving problems, wandering and getting lost, losing things, or misplacing them in odd places.
Like one day I came home from work. I was freezing cold. I took something out of the freezer to put in the oven and thinking, oh, when I get out of the tub, it's gonna be, or shower, it's gonna be so nice. I'm gonna have a nice dinner. What I did was, and this is multitasking, this was not dementia.
I actually took the food out of the refrigerator and instead of putting it in then the oven, I put it back in the freezer. It happens. There's other signs of Alzheimer's, maybe difficulty completing tasks such as bathing, mood and personality changes are a big one, and increased anxiety or depression.
So this leads me to the middle stages of Alzheimer's disease. The middle stages of Alzheimer's disease can be demanding for the person with Alzheimer's disease as well as their caregivers. It is at this stage of dementia that you may witness brain changes exhibited in changes in personalities,
frustration, difficulty with normal tasks such as bathing or dressing, or even confusion in how to communicate thoughts. It is in the middle stages of Alzheimer's that your family member will be completely dependent on some activities of daily living. So it might seem like an impossible situation at times, there are multiple resources available, so both you and your loved one get all the possible help through this long lasting period of change. Now I'd like to bring you back to Bob. Bob was seen by his primary care physician and had blood work and other lab tests done. The first thing that healthcare professionals look for is to rule out treatable conditions that present with dementia like symptoms or dementia symptoms.
Just fyi, there are some conditions that can cause memory problems that are very treatable. These conditions have symptoms of dementia, but when treated early are reversible,
The two medical conditions that come to my mind right away are low levels of vitamin b12, and another one is a urinary tract infection. Just a caregiver tip here. If you have a family member that has a sudden change in their mental status, have them checked out from a urinary tract infection. Always it's a classic. Bob was given the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease after some scans and a cognitive test. Of course, Bob had a grandfather that died of Alzheimer's disease.
Bob is presently in the middle stages of Alzheimer's. He has lost his ability to communicate verbally except for a few words. He was able to sell his business and is presently being taken care of at home by his wife. I see them walking every day. He follows behind his wife as they walk their dog.
Bob is no longer able to take this walk with his dog alone. Recently, has gotten up in the middle of the night and wandered outside. To keep him busy during the day, bob uses a broom and sweeps the wooden floors every day he folds towels and helps in the kitchen with stirring things. I think his wife is doing a great job at providing him with mentally stimulating activities.
She has decided to start Bob in an adult daycare center a few times a week for socialization and also for a break for her. As the disease progresses, Bob's wife will be faced with placing him in a memory care unit, nursing home or keeping him at home. Bob was just starting to have difficulty with bowel and bladder control. The last time I spoke to her, she has found Bob urinating in the bathroom sink because he couldn't find the toilet. It's not unusual, the sink, it's nice that he did the sink. Some clients have their father, peeing in a tree, a plant in the house. It happens. Now let's talk about the signs of moderate Alzheimer's disease. In this stage, more intensive supervision and care becomes necessary. These changes and increasing needs can be difficult for many spouses and families.
Symptoms may include increased confusion and memory loss, such as forgetting events or personal history. Withdrawal from social activities, inability to learn new things. They have difficulty with language and problems with reading, writing, and working with numbers. They have difficulty organizing thoughts and thinking logically.
And they definitely have a shortened attention span. They have problems coping with new situations, and more often than not, have changes in sleep patterns, such as sleeping more during the day and being restless at night. They have difficulty carrying out familiar multi-step task such as getting dressed, occasional problems, recognizing family and friends start to occur Hallucinations, delusions and paranoia can happen at this time. Impulsive behaviors such as undressing at un inappropriate times or places, or using vulgar language. This reminds me of a pastor's wife I cared for. This little lady could swear like a drunken soldier. The congregants of the church stopped visiting because they felt uncomfortable with her vulgar outbursts. Her poor husband was mortified. I told him she is making up for all the time she wanted to swear, but held back and she's just letting it out now. And we actually had a meeting with several family members and friends and discussed the disease process.
It was important for others to understand that this was not something that she was able to control. Now I continue on my list of symptoms of middle stages of Alzheimer's.
You're gonna see inappropriate emotional outbursts, restlessness, anxiety, agitation, tearfulness and wandering start in the middle stages. And these things especially occur in the late afternoon or evening, and it's called sundowning. Definitely repetitive statements start happening, or repetitive movements and occasional muscle twitches occur. Now I want to talk about the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. When dementia reaches its last stage, individuals are no longer able to interact with their environment or understand conversations as cognitive skills and memories become more impaired.
Drastic differences in personality may also arise, meaning that full-time care becomes necessary. Physical abilities can often be affected too. They start having walking difficulties, sitting troubles, and swallowing problems have all been commonly reported among those suffering from the advanced stages of this condition.
This is the stage of Alzheimer's when you may want to consider placing your family member with dementia on hospice. And if you're not ready for hospice, at least consider palliative care because the extra support during this time will help you make decisions as the disease progresses. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease start as subtle changes in personality and behaviors, and advance to increase memory problems and more challenging behaviors.
I recommend that you join a support group, either online or in-person support group. I hope you'll visit caregiver relief for more information on dementia behavior challenges, and join our caregiver support group.
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Diane Carbo
Diane Carbo
