What are the symptoms?
Intellectual losses include:
Amnesia: Loss of memory function. Distant memories
remain clear while recent memories are lost. Patients lose
the ability to store the memory of an event as it occurs;
for example, a patient may not remember the course of a
conversation from one moment to the next.
Aphasia: Loss of ability to understand spoken/written
words and/or inability to speak coherently. Patients may
get words confused, jabber incessantly or become mute.
Apraxia: Loss of ability to perform pre-programmed
motor tasks or tasks that a normal person completes
without any concentration. Some examples include:
buttoning a shirt, brushing one’s teeth, writing one’s
name and eating with utensils.
Agnosia: Loss of ability to remember what things look
like, including the face of a close relative and even one’s
own reflection in a mirror.
Psychiatric problems include:
• Major personality changes.
• Poor judgment, irritability or inappropriate behavior.
• 25% suffer from depression that should be treated.
• 30-40% suffer from hallucinations and delusions.
• 50% wander or become aggressive.
Non-neurological symptoms:
Only the brain is damaged in Alzheimer’s. Patients have
a long survival rate because other organ systems are not
damaged.
What is the course of the disease?
No two patients are alike. No patient’s course is predictable.
Early - (3 to 5 years) - Mild amnesia; good function
at home; few psychiatric symptoms.
Middle - (3 to 10 years) - Many intellectual
impairments; poor function at home; many psychiatric/
behavior problems.
Late - (5 to 20 years) - Multiple severe intellectual
impairments; no function at home; total care required;
loss of bowel and bladder function.
Future therapy will try to prevent the death of nerve cells
and maximize the function of surviving nerve cells.
20 Senior Resource Directory 2020-2021
How can families cope with this
disease?
• Education about the disease should be the family’s first
line of defense.
• Realize that denial of the problem will not make it go
away.
• Seek out a knowledgeable, caring physician who will
work with you to manage the patient’s behavioral
problems, as well as their physical complaints.
• Plan ahead. Take care of financial issues and legal
documents like a living will and durable power of
attorney.
• Seek out services that will ease your burden such as
adult day care, Meals on Wheels, and local support
groups.
ALZHEIMER’S ADULT
DAY HEALTH PROGRAMS
Coffee County Adult Day Care
301 North Quida Street
Enterprise, AL 36330
334-393-7919
Wiregrass Adult Care
795 Ross Clark Circle, N.E., Suite 1
Dothan, AL 36301
334-792-0022
Respite Care Ministry
First United Methodist Church
1380 West Main Street, Dothan, AL 36301
334-793-3555
www.fumcdothan.org
Provides fellowship and stimulation for
people who have memory loss due to
Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s or
stroke. Trained professionals and volunteers
provide supervision, lead activities, and serve
a nutritious lunch.
/www.fumcdothan.org