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Final Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

The final stages of Alzheimer’s disease can be the most challenging for friends and family of a person with the disease. If you need to, take a look back at the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Stage 6 is known as “moderately severe” or “mid-stage” Alzheimer’s disease. In this stage, cognitive decline is severe. A person at this stage may experience: Significant personality changes, including hallucinations, delusions, suspiciousness, paranoia, and/or compulsive, repetitive behaviors. Awareness of recent experiences, events, and surroundings is lost. Personal history is recalled imperfectly. May forget names of family and … Continue reading →

Advanced Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is divided into stages in order to help people understand the progression of the disease. We’ve already looked at the earliest stages — from no cognitive impairment to the point where a diagnosis may occur. Now it’s time to look at the next stages of the disease. Stage 4 is what doctors may call “mild” or “early-stage” Alzheimer’s disease. Symptoms of moderate cognitive decline can include: Decreased knowledge of recent events. Impaired ability to perform challenging mental math — like counting backwards from 100 by sevens. Decreased ability to perform complex tasks, like planning a party or managing … Continue reading →

Alzheimer’s Disease: Forgetting Your Partner

Former U.S. Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor is happy that her husband is in love with another woman. Last year, O’Connor left her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court to look after her husband John, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. John O’Connor has been slowly losing his memories to the disease for the last seventeen years. Although the O’Connors have been married for fifty-five years, John has started a new relationship with a patient at a care facility in Arizona. Experts say that it is not common for Alzheimer’s patients to start new relationships. People who suffer from the … Continue reading →

An Alzheimer’s Side Effect I Never Expected

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I talk about Alzheimer’s disease a lot here in the Health Blog because it is slowly stealing my grandmother from us. When I’m faced with a problem, my first urge is research. I try to learn what I can (and when it is health related, share it here). So I’ve read a lot about Alzheimer’s disease — the different stages, the history, the treatments, and even some famous people who are dealing with it. But all my research didn’t warn us about this: as my grandmother has progressed through the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, she’s packed on a lot … Continue reading →

Too Many Baby Boomers are Facing Alzheimer’s

A new report from the Alzheimer’s Association has some bad news about the future of Alzheimer’s disease. Right now, more than five million Americans are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease — including as many as 250,000 people under the age of sixty-five. By 2010, the Alzheimer’s Association predicts that there will be five hundred thousand new cases reported each year. By 2050, the Alzheimer’s Association predicts that there will be one million new cases of Alzheimer’s disease annually. The bad news focuses especially on baby boomers. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that ten million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease in their … Continue reading →

The Imaginary Visitor

I did a little research on people with Alzheimer’s disease experiencing hallucinations because of my grandmother. She is progressing from mild into moderate Alzheimer’s disease and has been experiencing hallucinations from time to time. I remember her calling through the house, looking for her mother (who passed away in 1998). She told stories of a little white dog she saw running through our backyard (that no one else ever saw). Lately, the hallucinations have been becoming more frequent. Last week, she told my mother a story about a stranger coming to the door. According to my grandmother, the doorbell rang … Continue reading →

Watching a Loved One Lose Time

When I started writing for the Families.com Health Blog, I was living with my grandmother and acting as one of her primary caretakers. Among a laundry list of other health issues, my grandmother has Alzheimer’s disease. In the three years I lived with her, my grandmother’s disease seemed to progress quickly. She went from the occasional “senior moment” to more concerning behaviors like leaving the stove on, forgetting to take her medicine, and hiding her purse in strange places. My grandmother has entered a new stage of Alzheimer’s disease, one I call “losing time”. You might call it living in … Continue reading →