Few things are more devastating than Alzheimer’s disease. This disease comes in three stages. It starts with mild symptoms, then heads into moderate symptoms, and finalizes with severe symptoms. Catching Alzheimer’s early may give you or your loved one a chance to stall the progression of the disease for a longer period of time with the proper medication and therapy.
Mild Alzheimer’s Symptoms
In its mild stage, Alzheimer’s disease does not affect a person’s physical health. He or she could be in pristine health and still begin to lose his or her mental faculties. Common problems include trouble making sense of things and loss of memory. Additional mild Alzheimer’s symptoms include
- Bad decision-making
- Poor judgment
- Spontaneity loss
- No initiative
- Difficulty completing daily tasks
- Repeating questions
- Financial problems
- Getting lost easily
- Wandering a lot
- Losing things
- Putting things in odd places
- Personality/mood changes
- Increased anxiety/aggression
Generally, a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at this stage after failing a test to determine his or her memory capabilities and sense of the present among other factors.
Moderate Alzheimer’s Symptoms
An Alzheimer’s diagnosis often feels like a death sentence, and it is crucial for the patient and his or her family to get help and learn coping mechanisms. As the disease progresses, patients will become more confused and forgetful. Signs of moderate Alzheimer’s disease also include
- An inability to learn anything new
- Problems with literacy/language
- Problems working with numbers
- Inability to think logically/organize thoughts
- Loss of attention span/confusion
- Inability to cope with new situations
- Inability to carry out multi-step tasks
- Inability to recognize family and friends
- Delusions, hallucinations, paranoia
- Impulsive and inappropriate behavior
- Agitation, restlessness, angry outbursts
- Emotionalism/tearfulness
- Extreme emotions in the afternoon
- Muscle twitches, repetitive statements/movements
As the patient continues to deteriorate mentally and begins to experience the physical symptoms of Alzheimer’s, professional help will be needed to deal with the patient’s daily needs.
Severe Alzheimer’s Symptoms
If your or your loved one’s symptoms reach the severe stage, the ability to communicate will be lost and 24/7 care will be in order. This is the severe damage Alzheimer’s causes to the brain and bodily functions. The signs and symptoms of severe Alzheimer’s disease include
- Groaning, grunting, moaning
- Loss of bladder and bowel control
- Seizures
- Skin infections
- Sleeping all the time
- Swallowing difficulties
- Weight loss
As you can see, this disease is horrible as it progresses, which is why the need for professional help comes in. Coping with caring for an Alzheimer’s patient can destroy you.
We can test you or a loved one for Alzheimer’s and recommend a course of action to, hopefully, delay the progression of the disease. Call us today to schedule an appointment.
