Did you or your loved ones forget names or important current events? If yes, chances are they may be developing Alzheimer’s disease. It is a neurological disease that leads to progressive cognitive decline. Many doctors and healthcare providers divide the severity and symptoms of Alzheimer’s into different stages to provide medical care based on the stage. Learn about the stages of Alzheimer’s disease in this article. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation.

Stages of Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease whose severity and symptoms change as it progresses over time. Its progress is often divided into stages to diagnose the severity of the condition. Sometimes these stages can overlap, so doctors use this as a guideline. Here are the common stages of Alzheimer’s disease:

1. Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease:

In this stage, changes in the brain are related to Alzheimer’s but don’t cause noticeable symptoms. This stage might occur 10 to 15 years before you have symptoms. As this stage causes no symptoms at all, there’s no treatment for this stage. But it is believed that in the future we might have medicines that stop progress before people have symptoms and prevent the disease. The research found these changes lead to accumulation of abnormal protein called tau in the fluid around the brain and spinal cord, which is linked with Alzheimer’s disease. Changes in the protein levels may take 15 years before symptoms start. Recently early detection of changes in the brain allows primary care doctors to screen the earliest signs of disease. So, noticing your loved one’s cognitive abilities start to slip, means they are entering the second stage of Alzheimer’s disease.

2. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI):

Everyone can be forgetful sometimes, which happens more often with age. In the early stage of Alzheimer’s, it looks like normal aging-related forgetfulness, but it may make you experience a quicker cognitive decline than people without Alzheimer’s. For example, you may not know people’s names or where you left the keys, but still can drive, work, and be social. If these memory lapses become more frequent, then you’ll probably notice this before your loved one will, which needs treatment as soon as possible to slow the progression.

3. Mild Alzheimer’s disease:

In this stage, many noticeable changes start occurring which can’t only be blamed on age. Commonly, you might receive a diagnosis at this stage because your daily routine becomes more disrupted. This stage lasts around 7 years, but symptoms slowly become more noticeable over 2 to 4 years. Only the closest people to you will notice the symptoms. Common difficulties go beyond forgetting names and misplacing things. You may notice symptoms including:

• Difficulty remembering recent reading material like books and magazines.
• Difficulty learning something new.
• Getting lost while traveling to a familiar route.
• Struggling to remember the words or names you want to use to talk.
• Being unable to remember what you read.
• Experience difficulty in social settings or at work.
• Not able to focus properly.
• Decline in work quality.

This stage may bring anxiety to your loved one and some people may also deny that as well. These feelings are normal, but you should consult with a physician who’ll check your symptoms and prescribe the right treatment to slow the progression.

4. Moderate Alzheimer’s disease:

In this stage, Alzheimer’s damage affects other aspects of cognition outside of memory, including difficulty with language, organization, and calculations. These problems make daily tasks more challenging. This stage, which lasts around 2 years, creates major difficulties with memory and makes you forget significant details about your life, such as who you are married to or which city you live in. The memory of the distant past might be better than the memory of day-to-day information, such as what you saw on the news or a conversation from earlier in the day.

In this stage, you notice symptoms like:

• Difficulty handling complex daily tasks like finances.
• High risk of wandering off or getting lost.
• Changes in sleep patterns, such as don’t sleep at night but sleep during the day.
• Difficulty choosing appropriate clothing according to the weather or the occasion.
• Decrease emotional responses.
• Decrease awareness of the surroundings.
• Losing memory of personal history.

These symptoms get better if the person gets an early diagnosis and treatment.

5. Moderate to severe decline:

This stage lasts about 1.5 years, and a person needs a lot of support at this stage because they struggle emotionally at this stage. If they don’t get enough support, they show feelings of anger and suspicion. In this stage, they have trouble remembering the names of close family members and may have difficulty recalling major events, weather conditions, or current addresses. They feel confused about time or place, have difficulty counting backward, or struggle with basic tasks like getting dressed or combing their hair is too much for them.

You notice emotional changes in them like:

• Hallucinations: Seeing things that aren’t
• Delusions: False beliefs that they believe are true.
• Paranoia: The feeling that others are against them.

6. Severe Alzheimer’s disease:

In this stage, people experience more significant symptoms at this time, which impact his or her ability to manage their care and make them more dependent on others. You notice symptoms like:

• They struggle to choose or put on clothes.
• A decline in overall hygiene begins when they aren’t able to adjust the water temperature before baths.
• They are not able to communicate well.
• They may forget to flush or throw tissue paper away. As the disease progresses, they like to lose control of their bladder and bowels and need help with cleanliness.

This stage lasts for 2.5 years, and their memories get much worse, especially with the current news or life events. They may also experience personality changes, fear of being alone, fidgeting, frustration, stuttering, shame, suspicions, and paranoia. With medications or behavioral strategies, some of the symptoms can be manageable.

7. Very severe Alzheimer’s:

In this stage, a person loses many basic abilities such as eating, walking, and sitting up, which fade during this period. You may need to feed your loved one soft, easy-to-swallow food, or help them use a spoon, and make sure they drink water. This is important because many people at this stage can no longer tell when they’re thirsty. In this stage, Alzheimer’s disease patients need a lot of help from caregivers. Many families struggle to take care of their loved ones at home. They look for facilities such as nursing homes that provide professional care day and night. When someone nears the end of their life, hospice may be a good option because your team approach focuses on comfort, pain management, other medical needs, emotional concerns, and spiritual support for the person and their family.

Progression

This condition typically progresses slowly and transitions from mild to severe symptoms. It varies in patients how fast the disease progresses for each individual. For example, a 2018 study found people aged 65 years in the preclinical stage had a 92% chance of maintaining the same levels of cognition in the same year. People aged 75 years had a 90% chance of maintaining these levels and the risk of developing the disease doubles every 5 years after 65 years.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive neurological disorder that causes cognitive decline. Some doctors classify Alzheimer’s into 7 stages depending on the severity of the symptoms. Alzheimer’s treatment includes medications and supportive care. Some people hire nursing home services to take care of the patient.

If you need help with Alzheimer’s care, book an appointment with our senior care services in the Brooklyn office to get professional medical help. Call us to book your appointment now!!!!

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