Symptoms At Each Stage Of Alzheimer's Disease

First Stage Of Alzheimer's Disease- 2 to 4 years Up To And Including Diagnosis


Symptoms:

• Short term memory loss for recent events.



• Loses spontaneous behavior, becomes withdrawn,lacks interest in hobbies and social activities.



• Gets confused about places and may get lost.



• Mood and personality changes occur. May become anxious, angry, or depressed.



• Has poor judgement and makes poor decisions, especially about money.

Second Stage Of Alzheimer's Disease- 2 to 10 Years After Diagnosis

Symptoms:

• Memory loss becomes more intense and often, involving both short term and long term memory loss. Attention spans become very limited, making it even harder for alzheimer's disease patients to remember and concentrate.



• Patients begin repeating statements and sentences and repeating odd or strange movements.



• Patients have increasing difficulty recognizing close friends or family. Patients may not recognize their own image in the mirror.



• Patients become drowsy during the day and more active toward night time. Some patients may stay awake until all hours of the night. This behavior, called sundowning, is believed to be caused by damage to the part of the brain that controls daily body rhythms.



• Patients may develop muscle twitches,jerking, tremors, or abnormal gait. Walking may be impaired and patients may be at increased risk for falls.



• Patients have increasing difficulty holding a conversation and can't think in a logical manner anymore. They may develop false beliefs, but all logical efforts to change the beliefs fail because patients lose most logical ability.



• At this stage, alzheimer patients may lose control of impulses. They may behave strangely, such as eating strange things. Patients may become disinhibited, and make suggestive sexual verbal or physical overtures to other patients.People in this stage of alzheimer's disease may become sloppy and fail to bathe or pursue normal personal hygiene.



• In mid stage alzheimer's disease, patients may become highly emotional, such as being anxious, irritable, or silly. Patients may become paranoid, may become suspicious, and think people are trying to harm them or steal from them. Patients in this stage may become teary and may cling excessively to their caregiver.



• Patients in this stage begin to lose more weight partly because they lose interest in eating and also lose the ability to feed themselves. Patients in this stage need full time supervision for their own safety.

Third And Terminal Stage Of Alzheimer's Disease- 1-3 Years Long

Symptoms:

• In this sad stage, patients can no longer recognize family, friends, or even themselves.



• At this point, patients lose even more weight and become very frail. Many develop swallowing problems. Still others become so frail they fall, have hip fractures, and then become immobile in bed or wheelchairs.



• Patients in end stage alzheimer's disease need almost full time care and need help to eat, drink, bath, change clothes, and even walk. Patients lose the ability to talk and communicate. If they feel pain, they cannot tell their caregiver about it in this stage. Extreme emotional reactions could be the result of pain, which the caregiver should be alert for.



• In terminal stage, patients become frail and suffer breakdown of their skin, becoming prone to developing ulcers. Also, because many patients don't eat well and get proper nutrition, immune systems breakdown and patients become prone to develop infections. Many patients die from pneumonia or general sepsis.



• Patients in end stage may lose control of their bowel and bladder, making them prone to frequent urinary tract infections.



• In end stage alzheimer's disease, seizures may occur, because the brains of alzheimer patients become more excitable as more brain cells die.

---