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Alzheimer's disease slowly robs sufferers of their ability to
think and function. The degeneration is a process that exists on
a continuum from no signs and symptoms to debilitating
impairment. By breaking the process down into stages, patients
and their families will be better able to understand where they
are and what they can expect, and hopefully, this awareness will
help them cope with what lies ahead. An understanding of the
Stages of Alzheimer's Disease also improves the quality of
community support and nursing home care.
A variety of methods exist for delineating the Stages of
Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Barry Reisberg of New York University
is a frequently cited Alzheimer's disease physician who has
developed The Functional Assessment Staging (FAST) scale.(Look
up "Functional Assessment Staging" in Google to see the list)
Reisberg's scale consists of 16 stages, which track the loss of
everyday abilities that healthy people take for granted, from
balancing a checkbook to using the bathroom to smiling at a
loved one.
The stages begin with an awareness of memory loss and progress
to an inability to perform everyday tasks at work and at home,
leading eventually to problems with personal hygiene, speech and
movement. The decline in abilities tracked by Reisberg resembles
a regression through childhood development to a state of almost
infantile dependency, being unable to even hold one's head up.
As grim as an awareness of such degeneration might be for
caregivers, Reisberg claims that family members can use the
scales to plan for daily routines that compensate for their
loved ones' lost abilities while keeping their minds active
without frustrating them.
Knowing what to expect and what won't work for patients during
the different Stages of Alzheimer's Disease eliminates some of
the guesswork and anxiety of caregiving. It also removes the
'surprise' element when a patient begins to exhibit a different
behaviour. And if the caregiver is already aware of the the
strategies to be used in the next stage, she or he can be
prepared to use them immediately,rather than having to spend
time researching them. For the patient and caregiver, knowing
the stages of degeneration might also give some hope if it takes
a long time to progress between between the stages.
Due to the importance of knowledge about the Stages of
Alzheimer's Disease for caregivers, research is being done on
how to improve the dissemination of information about the
disease and on how to improve awareness of the availability of
social and community support. One researcher is examining the
effectiveness of an initiative that uses a support group setting
to teach families about Alzheimer's disease and to make them
aware of resources within their communities. Another initiative
attempts to connect patients and their families with physicians
in their community who are educated not only about the disease
but also about sources of community support.
An important type of community support involves keeping
Alzheimer's patients active and connected to their communities
despite their diminishing abilities. One unique program allows
patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease to teach
lessons to children in Montessori schools. Researchers are also
developing programs for patients with more advanced Alzheimer's
disease who are in nursing homes. These programs strive to make
care giving more personal and tailored to a patient's needs and
abilities. Finally, as wonderful as community programs and
initiatives may be, they are only effective if people take
advantage of them. Research is being done on which programs are
best for people with Alzheimer's disease and how to encourage
caregivers to take advantage of these programs.
About the author:
Joe Green is webmaster at http://Good-Health-Matters.com where
he is bringing together many resources to help people caring for
those with different diseases including Alzheimer's Disease. You
will also find his new book Alzheimer's Disease: Things you
need to know published in 2009-2015 © 2009-2015 All rights worldwide
reserved.
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