Unless you have had personal experience with someone who has had the disease or you have been a caregiver or worked professionally with those who have the disease, there may be some facts that may...

Unless you have had personal experience with someone who has had the disease or you have been a caregiver or worked professionally with those who have the disease, there may be some facts that may be new to you or that you might find fascinating about Alzheimer’s disease.

Most individuals are aware that Alzheimer’s is a disease of the brain but few understand that it is not a mental illness. Alzheimer’s is a medical disease and those who suffer from it should not be categorized as being somehow to blame for having the disease. They do not have a weak character or suffer from a mental illness. The symptoms of the disease can be attributed to a disruption in the normal functioning of the brain including certain functioning of sections of the brain. These sections affect memory, language skills, cognitive skills and the ability to control bodily functions. Because Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects the brain, individuals do not necessarily look sick.

The brain controls all that we do so when the brain’s ability to control the functions of the body it can impact the physiological aspects of the body such as the ability to control bowel and bladder habits, as well as behavior issues such as a change in personality and also cognitive issues such as recognizing familiar people and remembering recent events.

Although the prognosis is predictable and we know that the individual with Alzheimer’s will decline in functioning ability as well as cognitive and behavioral skills the disease can progress at different rates, so no two individuals will have the same course of disease even if diagnosed at the same time. Treatments may not always have the same result or work for the same amount of time. The stages of the disease can also overlap and be entered into and last at different rates.

When you are the caregiver for someone you love with Alzheimer’s it is important to understand that the decline of ability to function is an expected occurrence and you are in no way responsible or in control of these changes. The changes are a result of medical issues with the brain of the person who has Alzheimer’s.

To make life easier for the Alzheimer’s patient in the early or middle stages of the disease break up tasks into smaller steps so that the entire task will not seem quite as overwhelming to them. Each daily task that we do can be viewed as a series of smaller steps and the individual should be encouraged to accomplish the task one small step at a time.

It doesn’t make sense to argue with or try to reason with someone suffering from Alzheimer’s because in order for the individual with Alzheimer’s to argue or reason back they would have to be able to understand, remember and process what is being said and this is just not possible. Patience is the key to living with someone with Alzheimer’s disease.

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