About Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative brain disorder named after German physician Alois Alzheimer, who first described it in the year 1906. Dementia is a general term used for the depicting loss of memory and other intellectual abilities which are serious enough to interfere with daily life.

Alzheimer’s Disease: The Most Common Form of Dementia
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. Alzheimer’s disease first causes progressive cognitive deterioration which involves the parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language. It is later accompanied by declining activities of daily living and by neuropsychiatric symptoms or behavioral changes. People suffering from Alzheimers disease often find it difficult to remember names of the people they know and tend to forget recent happenings. They might not recognize even their family members and may have trouble doing activities like speaking, reading or writing. Sometimes the condition of Alzheimer patients becomes so severe that they wander away from home.

The human brain contains 100 billion nerve cells or neurons. Each of these nerve cells communicates with each other to form a network like structure. These nerve cell networks coordinate the neural activities such as thinking, learning, remembering, smelling, hearing & seeing. To do their work, the brain cells operate like tiny factories. In Alzheimer’s disease, parts of the brain cell’s factory stop functioning properly. Scientists are still unsure as to where exactly the trouble starts from.

Alzheimer’s Disease : Causes
The greatest known cause for Alzheimer’s disease is increasing age. The statistics reveal that the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease doubles about every five years after age 65. The other major cause of Alzheimer’s disease is family history or heredity (genetics). When Alzheimer’s disease tends to run in families, either heredity (genetics) or environmental factors or both may play a major role. Alzheimer’s disease may also be caused by a serious head injury or severe heart diseases that damage the heart or blood vessels.

Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease
There are no medical tests currently available to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease with definite accuracy. The first step in following up on the symptoms is to go and see a doctor with whom the patient feels comfortable. The patient’s mood and mental status is evaluated along with a detailed review of the patient’s medical history. Later on a couple of clinical diagnostic tests are performed to ascertain conclusive evidence on whether the patient suffers from Alzheimer’s disease or not.

Home Care and Treatment for Alzheimer’s disease
At present, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers are looking for new treatments and care techniques to alter the course of the disease and improve the quality of life for people suffering with Alzheimer’s disease. It is important to take ample care of yourself if you have to take care of someone suffering from Alzheimer’s disease because taking care of Alzheimer patients can be quite challenging and overwhelming. You can talk to other people who have taken care of Alzheimer disease patients within their own family. But the most viable option is to get in touch with professional caregivers who are specialized in providing home care support to people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Assisted-living facilities especially for people with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Assisted-living facilities for people with Alzheimer’s disease are often referred to as “Special Care Units (SCUs).” SCUs are staffed with individuals who are specially trained to work with people who have Alzheimer’s disease. As such, the environment is designed to be very safe and comfortable, and the activities are designed to benefit the person with Alzheimer’s disease.

SCUs can differ in the level of care they provide along the continuum of the disease. For instance, some assisted living facilities will accept people with Alzheimer’s until they need skilled care (nursing home care) whereas others will only accept people who are in the early stages of the disease.

Get Help.
Our LTC Network of companies are premier providers of home care and senior housing services for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia and can safely help your loved one with the activities of daily living. Please consider our home health care and senior housing services specializing in Alzheimer’s Disease to take the strain off your back.

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Question by DJ: What do you tell an Alzheimer’s patient whose children wont talk to her?
My granny is 80 and in the moderate stage 4 to 5 of the disease. She is now living with my mother. My granny has two other sons who want to have nothing to do with her. My mother has asked them for help and they
won’t. They don’t even call to check on her. What do we tell her when she is constantly asking for her boys? She gets upset daily and demands to see her boys. We dont know what to do?

Best answer:

Answer by Carol R.
Its sad. (Im 66 and 1 of my 4 children has had no contact with any of her family for up to16 years, (and she’s a phsycology prof!!!) Unfortunatly it’s the daughter who usually winds up caring for the parent. I moved to a lifecare retirement community so I’ll be taken care of as I age since my sons are not too involved with me either although we’re still in touch.
Altzheimers can cause alot of irritability and anger. First try to change the subject and get her attention on something else. If that doesn’t work,try telling her that they are sad that she is ill and wish her well but are too upset to see her. If she persists and her memory is really bad, tell her that they’ve been busy and will be visiting soon, or that they just called or came by but she was sleeping and they’ll be by again, then divert her from the topic. Maybe even give her a gift “from them”. Its ok to lie to someone with dementia if it helps them stay calm and makes them feel better. I think God understands. As time goes on she may forget about them .
Have her sons always had problems with their mom or is it that they are freeked out or just sellfish? Maybe your mother or you can get them to talk about it…..maybe not. Maybe they need to be educated about AD.
It may be nessesary to get proffesional advise.
My mother had AD and had a delusion that her neice and nephew killed their mother. Its true her sister died but not that way! I told her it didnt happen,but to no avail. Then I tried playing along with her as she told me what she had seen and said “Thats awfull,should we call the police?” She changed the subject. When she kept bringing it up again I got a geriactric psychologist she once saw . He flat out told her “Grace, sometimes as we age we may believe that we have seen things that never happened. You are having a delusion. It never happened, so try not to think about it.” It worked! (She had always thought the neice and nephew had taken advantage of their mother)
My prayers are with your Mom and Grandmother. Make sure your Mom gets some time off. It’s extreamly stressfull being an AD caregiver. I hope she goes to a support group. You too. The Altzeimers Assosiation has them all over; sometimes with free care for the patient during the meetings.

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