Dementia Research Paper
Understanding Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease
Dealing with Dementia and the progression of Alzheimer's disease through its three stages is often a daunting and distressing task. Most often relatives feel isolated and without help as if they were to be left alone, having no help to deal with the "unknown". They are also afraid of having to watch their loved ones become more and more distant, potentially losing a horrible battle with this disease. In order to help with this fear of the "unknown" you need to first understand Dementia, Alzheimer's disease and the three stages that accompany Alzheimer's.
Let us first talk about what dementia actually means. Dementia is the name for a group of diseases that affect normal, routine activity of the brain. It's a progressive brain dysfunction which starts by first affecting them by losing their ability to carry out normal, everyday activities and in most cases leads to long term care. These changes in the brain are slow and typically lead to memory loss and confusion, often affecting elderly people's personalities and behaviors. Being able to identify the early indicators of dementia is very important when wanting fast and adequate treatment. The following are some of the indicators of dementia: 1.) A majority of people are forgetful, forgetting names, appointments, meetings, where they were going, etc. When forgetfulness starts effecting more then just oneself, (i.e., at work) it seems to happen more frequent and inexplicable states of confusion are clear; this would be a flag for a decline in memory function. 2.) Throughout the day and week people are busy and can become absent-minded, forgetting about feeding the cat/dog, forget about the pot on the stove. When individuals start to have difficulties with familiar activities, (i.e., feeding pets, feeding self, family), not only could they forget about the pot on the stove or feeding the cat/dog, they don't even know that they're the ones cooking or that
Dealing with Dementia and the progression of Alzheimer's disease through its three stages is often a daunting and distressing task. Most often relatives feel isolated and without help as if they were to be left alone, having no help to deal with the "unknown". They are also afraid of having to watch their loved ones become more and more distant, potentially losing a horrible battle with this disease. In order to help with this fear of the "unknown" you need to first understand Dementia, Alzheimer's disease and the three stages that accompany Alzheimer's.
Let us first talk about what dementia actually means. Dementia is the name for a group of diseases that affect normal, routine activity of the brain. It's a progressive brain dysfunction which starts by first affecting them by losing their ability to carry out normal, everyday activities and in most cases leads to long term care. These changes in the brain are slow and typically lead to memory loss and confusion, often affecting elderly people's personalities and behaviors. Being able to identify the early indicators of dementia is very important when wanting fast and adequate treatment. The following are some of the indicators of dementia: 1.) A majority of people are forgetful, forgetting names, appointments, meetings, where they were going, etc. When forgetfulness starts effecting more then just oneself, (i.e., at work) it seems to happen more frequent and inexplicable states of confusion are clear; this would be a flag for a decline in memory function. 2.) Throughout the day and week people are busy and can become absent-minded, forgetting about feeding the cat/dog, forget about the pot on the stove. When individuals start to have difficulties with familiar activities, (i.e., feeding pets, feeding self, family), not only could they forget about the pot on the stove or feeding the cat/dog, they don't even know that they're the ones cooking or that
Cited: Chafetz, Paul K., and Namazi, Kevan H. Assisted Living – Current Issues in Facility Management and Resident Care. Westport: Auburn House , 2001. Meakins, Elizabeth. Understanding Dementia. 8 August 06 http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/Understanding/Understanding+dementia.htm#What_is_dementia Johnson-Cilag. Three Stages of Alzheimer 's Disease. 15 August 06 http://www.dementia.com/home.jhtml?_requestid=836440 Alzheimer 's Association. Stages of Alzheimer 's Disease. 15 August 2006 http://www.alz.org/ Healthwise Incorporated. Dementia Overview. 20 Aug 2006 http://www.webmd.com/hw/healthy_seniors/uf4985.asp