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Specialists have categorized the symptoms of Alzheimer’s illness in 7 stages.
STATES CHRONICLE – Alzheimer’s illness affects more and more people every day. A person suffering from this disease has no longer the same abilities as before. During the illness, patients suffer some memory impairments. Not all the people affected by this disease express the same symptoms. This illness attacks every patient in a unique way. Nevertheless, those suffering from Alzheimer’s illness gravitate around the same symptoms throughout the whole period, from the beginning up to the end of it.
Dr. Barry Reisberg, a clinical director of the New York University School of Medicine’s Silberstein Aging and Dementia Research Center, has developed a framework which contains seven stages and is bound to help the healthcare personnel to act upon the matter concerning these steps. The seven steps are presented in a simplified way.
The first stage implies no impairment. The individual behaves just like a mentally healthy person. He or she expresses no changes in moods or any other functional decline.
The second stage reveals a level of forgetfulness but not an alarming one. The patient may experience lapses of the memory, or he/she cannot remember familiar words. The affected individual has trouble in recognizing the place of everyday objects. Also, at this stage, people may have difficulties in the process of concentration. At this level, the medical staff is not able to detect symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer’s illness.
The third stage is the development of cognitive impairment. The difficulties experienced by the sick person are starting to become noticeable. The patient will have problems in using the appropriate words or the right names, experiencing trouble with organizing.
The fourth stage unveils the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s illness. A careful healthcare assistant can identify the signs which show easy forgetfulness of events and personal history, impairments in performing simple arithmetic and rapidly change of moods.
The fifth stage shows all the above symptoms but at a more severe cognitive decay. The patient who reached this stage can no longer take proper care of himself or herself. They could also experience gaps in memory, not recalling their phone number or address, needing help to choose their clothing.
The sixth stage reveals that the affected person needs more attentive care, not being able to dress correctly. The patient will experience some personality changes.
The seventh stage is marked by a severe impairment of the cognitive abilities. The patient becomes non-verbal and will experience difficulties in controlling movement.
Do you believe that you would have the needed patience to take care of someone suffering from Alzheimer’s illness?
Image source: wikipedia
