Golden Age Senior Placement Services
Alzheimer's & Memory Care
A form of long-term skilled nursing that specifically caters to patience with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and other types of memory problems.
Things to Know
Stages
- Basic Forgetfulness - Everyone can be forgetful from time to time, and that’s likely to happen more often with age. Very early stages of Alzheimer’s can look like normal-aged forgetfulness.
- Noticeable Memory Difficulties - Common difficulties in this stage go beyond forgetting names and misplacing objects. This stage may bring about more anxiety for your loved one, and some people may even deny that anything is wrong.
- More Than Memory Loss - During this stage (which can last for many years) your loved one will experience major difficulties with memory. They may still remember significant details about their life, such as who they are married to or what state they live in.
- Decreased Independence - Until now, your loved one may have been able to live on their own with no significant challenges. Your loved one will likely have trouble remembering people that are important to them, such as close family and friends. They may struggle with learning new things, and basic tasks like getting dressed might be too much for them.
- Severe Symptoms - Your loved one will be experiencing more significant symptoms at this time, which impact his or her ability to manage their own care and they will be more dependent on others. Communicating may also become difficult during this stage. Your loved one may still use words and phrases, but communicating about specific thoughts, such as where they’re experiencing pain, can be challenging. Significant personality changes may continue to occur, including increased anxiety, hallucinations, delusions and paranoia. As their independence continues to decrease, your loved one may become more frustrated with you.
- Lack of Physical Control - Alzheimer’s destroys brain cells, and eventually, this can cause severe mental and physical impairment. Your loved one’s body may begin to shut down as their mind struggles to communicate and delegate tasks effectively. At this point, your loved one’s needs will significantly increase. They may need round-the-clock care for help with walking, sitting and eventually swallowing.
Diagnosis
Brain scans (FDG PET) used in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The scans show a healthy brain, a brain with mild cognitive impairment and a brain with Alzheimer's.
Main Cause
The causes probably include a combination of age-related changes in the brain, along with genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. The importance of any one of these factors in increasing or decreasing the risk of developing Alzheimer's may differ from person to person.