AstridGuide – Dementia & Alzheimer Guide

How to Cope with Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease that debilitates the natural ability of the human brain from functioning normally resulting in a gradual loss of memory and mental skills. This disease often comes with forgetfulness, drastic personality change, fluctuated mood, hallucinations and can be fatal.

Alzheimer’s is not curable, it’s permanent and fatal which needs to be treated with proper and correct diagnosis from its early phase. An overall check up of physical, psychological and neurological systems are required before starting on any kind of treatment.

One important thing that should be considered after a thorough check up process on the patient is to make sure of the results and verify if it is indeed Alzheimer’s disease. This is because Alzheimer’s disease is a bit indistinguishable with many Dementia related diseases which can be treated and are impermanent.

This wrong diagnosis causes wrong treatment which, obviously, will not be of any help to the patient. Sometimes, vascular disease, stroke, brain tumors, thyroid problem, malnutrition, depression in aged persons are mistakenly treated as Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease patients always suffer from severe memory loss and drastic change in behavior. They also lose their confidence and often lack sleep. All of these symptoms together create anxiety, fear and restlessness to the patient.

For their improvement, perfect combination of drug and non-drug treatment is highly suggested. The proper caring that they need is a very difficult task. Here are some points that should always be considered and remembered:

- Memory aiding techniques: The patient should always be given a chance to improve their lost memory. There should be some options left to give them a chance to complete a task, which can help them gradually. They also needs encouragement to boost up their self-confidence.

- Narrating the past: It is a very useful tool in handling patients with Alzheimer’s disease because it increases their self-awareness. Their past life and happy moments before should be narrated to them over and over again.

- Everyday encouragement: It is important to encourage them with praise after completing their daily tasks even if it is a failure attempt.

- Making a simple schedule: Simplification of daily routines reduces dilemma on the patient. Through this, it lessens their feeling of anxiety and helplessness.

All the above guidelines are expected to be done carefully even if there is no response on the part of the patient. A sign of development is anticipated after a period of time.