General Nursing©

Alzheimer's Disease

In the latter stages of the illness, patients may lose the ability to carry out most everyday activities including washing, dressing, eating, and drinking, becoming totally dependent on others for daily needs. Thus, wandering without direction or sitting motionless for hours may also occur.

Agitation, anxiety, wandering, repetitive speech, and paranoia are also common signs of the disease. A person with Alzheimer's disease may experience hallucinations or become combative or docile. Eventually, the person may become bedridden and develop complications including bedsores, feeding problems, and pneumonia.

Diagnosis:

The diagnosis of the disease is made on an assessment of both medical history and symptoms. This may involve both neurological (nervous system) and psychological (mental and emotional) factors, and the exclusion of conditions that mimic Alzheimer's disease.

Memory tests, blood tests, and brain scans may form part of the procedures and may extend over a period of time (months).
The recognized stages in the development of the disease are:

• Impairment of short-term memory
• Loss of learning and understanding (cognitive) skills including the ability to calculate; the perception of space, vision, and time; and the ability to use common objects and tools
• Levels of alertness and arousal are severely affected (advanced stage)