Tag: memory loss

What to look out for in Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease is a slow brain disorder the eats away the brain functions little by little. The disease develops completely between seven to 10 years. As it progresses, the disease affects various brain functions like memory, movement, judgment, abstract reasoning and even one’s behavior.

Because of the long development stage of the disease, Alzheimer’s has been categorized into three levels which described its progression. These are mild, moderate and severe. These categories defined the disease from early (mild) to middle (moderate) until the final (severe) stages of the disease.

During the early stages of the disease, the symptoms are less noticeable and are often times left unchecked and considered trivial by family members and even the patient themselves. Among the early and classic signs Alzheimer’s disease is the gradual loss of short-term memory.

At times, they find to be at lost while performing normal activities. Or they might get disoriented and get lost in places that they have been before. Also, at this stage, people afflicted with the disease may experience lapses of judgment and slight changes in personality. Mood swings and personality changes will start to worsen as the disease progress.

Moreover, attention span is reduced because of the presence of the brain disorder. People with Alzheimer’s tend to be less motivated to complete activities or tasks. Furthermore, they become more stubborn and would oppose changes and new challenges set forth before them.

These are the general conditions or symptoms of people with the disease. The symptoms vary from person to person. Moreover, some other symptoms include speech problems, failure to identify or recognize objects, no recalling how to use simple, ordinary things like a pencil, and not remembering to turn off the lights, stove, or even lock doors and windows. As the disease progresses so do the symptoms.

However, if one acquires or notice the presence of some of the symptoms it does not necessarily mean that one has already been afflicted with the disease. Loss of memory for example might be just a normal cause of aging or other normal factors. Memory loss in Alzheimer’s is more frequent.

People with the disease will more frequently forget words or names during conversations. And because they become conscious of their forgetfulness, they tend to avoid conversations and would rather keep quiet in order to avoid mistakes and embarrassments. They will then become withdrawn which can cause a myriad of other problems like depression and anti-social behaviors.

Other things that might happen are the discovery of things in odd places. One might find books inside freezers, clothes in dishwasher and even plates in washing machines. People with Alzheimer’s will ask questions repeatedly up to the point that it becomes irritating. They can be provoked quite easily and can surprisingly flare up in anger.

Even though no cure has yet been discovered or developed for Alzheimer’s, there are ways that have been created to delay the progression of the disease. Earlier symptoms of the disease respond well to various treatments.

Because the rate of progression differs from person to person, severe dementia occurs within five years to a decade after diagnosis. Because of present treatments and medications, some people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s can live more than 10 years after diagnosis. Some even live up to 20 years after the initial diagnosis was made.

It is a fact that most people with Alzheimer’s don’t die of the disease itself, but of infections and other tertiary diseases like pneumonia, or urinary tract infection or complications resulting from concussions.

Finding Out Early On About Alzheimers

Alzheimers is an extremely debilitating disease. Presently, there are no known cure or treatment for this irreversible threat to a mature person’s mental and personal health. Once a person has been diagnosed with Alzheimers, the duration and course of the disease will vary from five up to twenty years.

Within the course of the disease, the sufferer will go through a whole range of deterioration from slight short term memory loss to the loss of normal bodily functions that cause complications and infections that then turns into death.

While the prospect of Alzheimers disease is truly grim, there continues to be steady breakthroughs from experts that help hope persist that eventually, prevention and cure for Alzheimers may be found. Before that though, there are lot of questions to be answered and the race to find the cure continues.

Despite this, it is important to take note of the early signs of Alzheimers, for friends loved ones and yourself. Taking note of the early signs of Alzheimers will help everyone involved prepare and understand all that is entailed in arranging for care and what to expect as the illness progresses.

It is important to be on the lookout for early signs of Alzheimers if you or someone you care for is nearing the age of 65 or if there is known cases al Alzheimers in the family.
Below are some early signs of Alzheimers to look out for.

Downscale

While memory loss is commonly mentioned as the one of the early signs of Alzheimers, it has been noted that unexplained and sudden weight loss usually occurs within individuals who suffer from Alzheimers. They have found that the weight loss happens way before any actually memory loss begins.

If you or someone you care about begins to lose weight unexpectedly, consult your doctor for probable cause and if there are no reasons found then you should have tests for Alzheimers done.

Forgetfulness

The most common early sign of Alzheimers is the loss of short term memory. More often than not, at the very early stages, this short term memory loss often goes unnoticed so it is important to pay close attention and see if it is normal memory loss or is it an early sign of Alzheimers.

While everyone will forget something once in a while, but Alzheimers sufferer never recall back what has been lost. So pay attention for peculiar incidences of short term memory loss that result in the distress, however much slight, in everyday routine.

Disability

Alzheimers will rob one of the ability to do the things that used to come second nature to them. It is as if the individual with Alzheimers can no longer remember or are familiar with tasks or actions that used to be part of their everyday routine. Watch out for this telltale sale that is quite an indicator included in the early signs of Alzheimers disease.

More Changes

Another early sign of Alzheimers is the increasing problem of communication. Often, people with Alzheimers will have a difficult time communicating because they begin to lose their ability to handle language. They begin to forget simple words and terms and their sentence construction begin to be difficult to understand.

There can also be a change in behavior or mood that is not normal for the person with Alzheimers disease. Over and above moodiness, a person with Alzheimers can switch moods or behavior without reason.

Treatment and Care for Alzheimers Patients

Many breakthroughs and important discoveries have been found throughout the years of research and testing regarding the cure and treatment of Alzheimers disease. Despite that though, there continues to be no known cure or prevention for Alzheimers. Furthermore, once the disease has started, there can be no repairing or slowing down the damage of abnormal deposits of proteins in the brain.

People with Alzheimers have abnormal deposits of protein in their brains. These brain protein coat the brain and interacts with the neurons, neurotransmitters and nerves, causing damage and massive atrophy. Eventually, the brain will continue to shrink and the otherwise wrinkled surface will start to smoothen out. This is basically what causes the degeneration in the mind and in the person’s body.

There however are some drugs and treatments that seem to relieve symptomatic conditions slightly in some cases. These drugs and Alzheimers treatments are especially important during the onset and early stages of the illness when the sufferer can still be aware of what he or she is going through.

For instance, a person with Alzheimers at the early stages may suffer from depression or restlessness and certain drugs and Alzheimers treatments can be administered to help with this somewhat. Also, there have been some cases where memory loss at the beginning of dementia can still be improved somehow. Other possible symptoms that can be momentarily alleviated are sleep disorders and hallucinations.

Beyond these, the proper Alzheimers treatment of caregivers for patients is a highly specialized skill and needs to be administered by a professional. This will mean that the patient will eventually have to be entrusted in institutionalized care for the proper Alzheimers treatment needed.

Of course, loved ones of the Alzheimers patient will want to administer care personally but the care and Alzheimers treatment needed by the patient will be full time and specialized so it is best for a professional caregiver to ensure dignity is maintained throughout the course of the person’s disease.

Despite the present lack of Alzheimers treatment and cure, hope should never be abandoned. After all the technological advancements that have been made in the field of science and medicine, it probably won’t be long before the proper Alzheimers treatment and cure will be discovered.

If not the cure or Alzheimers treatment, then perhaps the methods of prevention against Alzheimers will be found to help other individuals not fall into this predicament. Perhaps in the near future, there will be vaccines for Alzheimers disease much like we all have vaccines against diseases like small pox and the like. All those diseases in the past posed a challenge to humanity then just like Alzheimers does now.

In the meantime, if you or someone you know and care about suffers from Alzheimers, it is best to consult a professional for possible options for instance for eventual institutional care, or for support groups or counseling advice that can be given to the patient and to his or her friends and relatives.

There may be some misconceptions and even some difficulty in accepting the situation of this disease whether it is on the side of the patient or from the people around him or her. For instances such as these, the right counseling and guidance is needed as part of the proper Alzheimers treatment.

Depression in Adolescents

Depression in adolescents is a disorder which occurs due to persistent sadness, loss of interest, loss of self worth and discouragement. Depression is normally a temporary reaction towards situations of stress. Depression is a normal part of the maturation process of adolescents. It is even induced due to production of sex hormones. Adolescent females are depressed twice more than adolescent boys according to a study.

Adolescent behavior is normally marked with good and bad moods. The transition from a good mood to bad mood and vice-versa, can take minutes, hours and even days. That is the reason why true depression is very difficult to find out. Depression in adolescents can be caused due to bad school performance, break up with boyfriend or girlfriend, and failing relations with friends and family. These causes can lead to persistent depression. Other serious causes are chronic illness, obesity, child abuse, stressful lifestyle, poor social skills, unstable care giving and depression in family history.

Symptoms of depression in adolescents are eating disorders, weight change, irritable mood, excessive sleeping in daytime, excessive temper, criminal behavior, memory loss, fatigue, self preoccupation, sadness, difficulty in concentrating, worthlessness feelings, loss of interest, self hatred, obsession with death and thought & attempts of suicides. When these symptoms are being noticed for more than two weeks, it is important to get treatment for the adolescent. Depression not only affects interpersonal relationships, but school performance as well. Depressed adolescents are more prone to take onto drugs and alcohol as an attempt to overcome their depression. Such problems require intensive treatment.

The doctor will take blood test and perform physical examination to determine the cause of depression. The adolescent can also be tested for substance abuse such as smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, marijuana smoking, and usage of other drugs. After the physical examination, psychiatric evaluation is also done to understand the cause of sadness, loss of interest and irritability. Depression can also lead to the development of other psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, mania and anxiety. It is also important to determine whether the adolescent poses a risk for himself/herself and others. Family and school personnel can provide valuable information about the adolescent to the doctor.

Treatment for depression for adolescent is similar to the treatment of depression for adults. Along with the treatment, the adolescent are given antidepressant medication and psychotherapy. Antidepressant medications include tricyclics, Prozac, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRI. Some of the medicines increase the risk, so it is a good idea that parents discuss the possible risks with the doctor. Only some of the antidepressant medications are meant for children and adolescents. Adolescents with severe depression need to be hospitalized as they are more prone to kill themselves.

Family and school support is necessary to tackle the depression of the adolescent. Parents can get their children admitted in emotional growth schools, boot camps or wilderness programs, to solve the behavioral problems. These programs consist of non medical staff and confrontational therapies. But care must be taken as some of the programs can in turn harm children who are depressed and sensitive. Adolescents, who get caught due to criminal offense, should be taken special care of by their parents. It is best that the child face the consequences and learn a lesson from it. Depressed adolescents respond well to treatment if they are treated comprehensively and early. More than half of the adults are known to have depression when they were in their teens.

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