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Alzheimer's Disease: Understanding The Three Stages and When To Start Home Care Services

In people with Alzheimer's disease, changes in the brain may begin 10 to 20 years before any visible signs or symptoms appear. Some regions of the brain may begin to shrink, resulting in memory loss, one of the first signs of Alzheimer's disease.

Over time, Alzheimer's disease progresses through three main stages: mild, moderate, and severe. Because it is not easy to look inside a living brain to see the damage Alzheimer's disease causes, these stages are characterized by a collection of signs and symptoms and behaviors the people with Alzheimer's disease experience.

Mild Alzheimer's Disease: Time to Consider In-Home Care

People with mild symptoms of Alzheimer's disease often seem healthy, but they are actually having trouble making sense of the world around them. It often takes time for an observer to realize that something is wrong because the initial symptoms are often confused with changes that take place in normal aging. Symptoms and early signs of Alzheimer's disease may include:

Difficulty learning and remembering new information

Difficulty managing finances, planning meals, taking medications on schedule

Depression symptoms (sadness, decreased interest in usual activities, loss of energy)

Difficulty with some activities such as driving a car

Gets lost going to familiar places

Moderate Alzheimer's Disease: Time to Implement Home Care Services

In moderate Alzheimer's disease, the damaging processes occurring in the brain worsen and spread to other areas that control language, reasoning, sensory processing, and thought. In this stage, symptoms and signs of Alzheimer's disease become more pronounced and behavioral problems may become more obvious. Signs and symptoms of moderate Alzheimer's disease may include:

Forgetting old facts

Continually repeats stories and/or asks the same questions over and over

Makes up stories to fill gaps

Difficulty performing tasks

Following written notes

Using the shower and toilet

Agitation, behavioral symptoms common

Restlessness, repetitive movements

Wandering

Paranoia, delusions, hallucinations

Deficits in intellect and reasoning

Lack of concern for appearance, hygiene, and sleep become more noticeable

Severe Alzheimer's Disease: Time to Consider 24 hour Care

In the advanced stage of Alzheimer's disease, damage to the brain's nerve cells is widespread. At this point, full-time care is typically required. For friends, family, and Alzheimer's caregivers, this can be the most difficult stage. People with severe Alzheimer's disease may have difficulty walking, and they often suffer complications from other illnesses, such as pneumonia. Signs of severe Alzheimer's disease may include:

Vocalizations such as groaning, screaming, mumbling, or speaking gibberish

Behavioral symptoms

Refuses to eat

Inappropriately cries out

Failure to recognize family or faces

Difficulty with all essential activities of daily living