Alzheimers Disease and Family Members - Article Example

Alzheimer's disease and family members [name of the author] [Department name and section number of course] [Name of the supervisor and date] Alzheimer's disease and family members Introduction Alzheimer's disease as has been introduced by medical science is the most common form of dementia. The early-onset Alzheimer's disease has got memory problems. These patients also are unable to make any kind of judgment and cannot think of anything systematic. The development of these symptoms makes life miserable to live. There is no static solution for the cure of this disease. There is only one thing that can make life worth living in such condition, and it is the proper care and mental support of the people living around the patient (webmd.com). As the disease grows the patient starts suffering from degenerative downfall of the brain. The affect is very tremendous over the social concerns. There is a regular deterioration in the mental and social functionalities of the patient. It damages memory, thinking abilities, the capability of making a judgment, and the process of learning. As a result there is the fall of individual personality and the ability to make decisions in every respect. The patient faces all sorts of risks of developing physical and mental strength with the increase in age. There is a continuous loss of cognitive and intellectual function without mutilation of consciousness. The patient starts depending on everyone around him. For every simple task as getting dressed, eating and many such day to day needs. The importance starts depending over the people who are in the family (mercksource.com). There is also the development of depressions and behavioural disturbances. There are many factors that can lead to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Family history is just one of all these factors. The other factors could be loneliness and some kind of continuous mental stresses. Down Syndrome is one of the major causes that leads to Alzheimer’s disease in the later life. People who are already suffering from Down Syndrome are at a higher risk for age-related health conditions and are very prone to Alzheimer's. Obesity too can be a cause for Alzheimer’s epidemic. The high insulin levels seen in obese people may mean a high risk of Alzheimer's disease. Under all circumstances it becomes very important for the family to be supportive and have patience in dealing with the disease. Paranoia, delusions, and hallucinations are some of the common features that increase along with the disease. The disease also affects the language that the patient speaks. Alzheimer's disease patients are unable to follow conversations and cannot articulate their thoughts in a systematic pattern. As the disease progresses, the patients mostly the aged ones, become dependent on others and most of the time are bedridden. Within a span of 5 to 10 years the disease almost engraves the patient and he starts behaving in the strangest way possible. The contribution of well being and care turns to be the only aspect of living resource for these patients. Alzheimer's disease is more inclined to affect people who are older than 65 (mercksource.com ). It can start at any age but most likely it is after 60 that people get mostly engrossed by it. People who are of 85 years or are older have got the chances of getting this disease. Dementia is the source for future affects of Alzheimer's disease, but is not considered to be a normal part of aging. This is the reason that it should not be confused with isolated mild forgetfulness that many older people experience (webmd.com). family concern As Alzheimer's disease is such a disease that makes the patient depend completely on others; it becomes the duty and a kind of responsibility for the family members to have more cooperation and get more concerned towards the patient. It is all about giving love and care, as much as possible. It is very vital to take a note of baby boomers. In a way it is the first step towards getting concerned about the aged parents. If there comes a little suspicion about the disease in your aging parents, you should immediately consult a professional for the purpose. If you find any one of them losing the ability to handle routine tasks, immediately go to a proper consultant (webmd.com). You should be very particular about their sentiments and emotions at the same time. In most cases the parents are reluctant of getting dependent on their children but in such cases the family has to be very supportive. Not only this, the social life needed to be managed well so that the one who is suffering doesn’t feel the burden. As per the observations made by Joy Loverde, the author of The Complete Eldercare Planner; "When we are with them, we can't act as though we have no responsibility. We can't afford not to be paying attention…If we do, we're the ones who get caught off guard. This is not a generation of people who are used to asking for help...Anything that is out of the ordinary should be a red flag” The mental support and understanding given by all the people in concern is of great help. We need to check the competence of the ability that the patient is losing; rather than the old age problems. There should be a clear understanding of the difference between old age problems and the Alzheimer's disease. Someone who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease will find it very difficult in performing the basic tasks. He or she will have problems with walking, dressing, eating and cooking. There also comes up a tremendous fall in the acquisition of the cognitive skills. Getting lost while driving, answering questions and in remembering familiar names and places are the common features of this disease. We need to be very particular as any of these symptoms gets detected. The family needs to give some extra attention if these characteristics persist. All these get added with poor hygiene and sloppy appearance. Incontinence, changes in appetite, weight loss and black and blue marks are the entire sharp features that these disease shows. Most of the people start living in isolation and gets irritate in smaller instances. There is a drastic change in the attitude that turns up to be very hard to deal. The family and the social contacts must have enough patience and skills in handling such situations. There is no other way than to be very supportive and keeping everything under control through a well managed behaviour. As the detection gets confirmed, you need to approach your parent to discuss for the solutions related to it. It needs to be done very tactfully without hurting their emotions; as negligence towards this concern may turn the scene worse. There is a strong recommendation for nursing home care (Selwood A, Johnston K, Katona C, Lyketsos C, Livingston G 2007). By providing a nursing home care the family members need not have to be at the service round the clock and as such they can spend happier moments with their dear ones. As the patient gets a transformation in his behaviour it is very difficult to tolerate him at every inch. In such cases spending some precious moments becomes worth than just performing the daily schedule. This also gives you a better chance to concentrate on their interests and their likings. As the personality of the patient changes as a whole, some kinds of medical assistance at home turns up very to be helpful. The family rather needs to share all the responsibility among them for each others convenience (alz.org). The family as a whole should be well prepared for all sorts of emergency-response devices, such as a bracelet or necklace equipped with a push-button radio transmitter that can be activated when a medical problem arises. You can always take help from Postal Alert, Social day care, Adult day care and the Respite care from all kinds of professional assistance. There are many churches, senior citizens organizations, hospitals and agencies on aging that can be of great support in the time of need. The most important thing is that you must have the instinct of showing your concern and must be an integral part of all these professional assistances. It is very important that you ensure that the living environment is safe for such patients as they can have serious depressions under a stressed life and that is very dangerous. At home there should be proper installation of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on every floor. There should not be any heaters, electric blankets, or other fire hazards. social impacts According to the estimations as stated by the World Health Organization; the total Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) for AD and other dementias all over the world, had exceeded eleven million in 2005, with a projected 3.4% annual increase. The solvency of governmental social safety nets will be impacted by the increased aged population which may develop Alzheimer's in the same proportions as earlier generations ( Sloane PD, Zimmerman S, Suchindran C, Reed P, Wang L, Boustani M, Sudha S 2002). Alzheimer's disease in general incur a variety of stresses in the social concerned periphery and to all those who are related to the terms of care giving. All social aspects are related to common complaints, like stress, depression, and an inability to cope with day to day tasks. The patient too turns great hazardous and is under regular stress and needs better compromising environment. The patients can have high-demands on the caregiver's concentration and thus needs to be properly handled under professional and social set up. As Alzheimer's sufferers have an ever-decreasing regard for their own safety there is a continuous lack of gratitude received when the sufferer is unaware of the help being given. It is thus very important to give him all the social concentrations and must get exhibit it in a way for his mental satisfaction. They are most of the time verbally and physically aggressive and thus people in concern must have forgiving attitude towards them. Aggression is very important to be handled by the caregiver as it in particular can lead to a temptation to retaliate (webmd.com). This is a direct proceeding towards the state which can put both the sufferer and carer at risk. All the friends and family never wish the sufferer to lose his or her identity and as such, often visits are highly recommended. Eventually there is the chance that the sufferer may lose his memory of recognising them. medical responses Alzheimer's disease has got no rigid solution. The best way is to consult a health care professional. There are certain amount of preventive sources and some treatments. However these treatments and preventive sources are rather slow and thus needs dedication from the family members or those who are in charge of taking care of the patient. It is always recommended to visit a licensed healthcare professional for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or dementia and with his advice the process of treatment all medical conditions needs to be followed. . The best solution to Alzheimer's disease is to take proper care from a very initial stage. There should be the practice of taking proper food and maintain good mental exercises. Reading, playing board games, playing musical instruments, and dancing are the best ways of keeping someone away from this dangerous consequence. It is very important to maintain particular health habits. References Alzheimer's Disease, n.d., http://www.mercksource.com/portal/site/mercksource/zQzmenuItemzEzConditionPagezAzconditionzEzAlzheimer's%20DiseasezAzrmmbrMezEzfalse [retrieved on 16.06.08] Parenting Your Parents, n.d. http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_health_a_to_z.jspzQzpgzEzzSzppdocszSzuszSzcnszSzcontentzSzatozzSzalert06062000zPzhtml [retrieved on 16.06.08] Alzheimer’s Disease Health Center, n.d., http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/default.htm Overview & Facts, n.d., http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/alzheimers-disease-overview-facts [ retrieved on 16.06.08] Alzheimer's Disease: Caregiving: Preparing the Home for an Alzheimer's Patient http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/caregiving-preparing-home [retrieved on 16.06.08] Caring for Alzheimer's, n.d., http://www.alz.org/living_with_alzheimers_caring_for_alzheimers.asp [retrieved on 16.06.08] Sloane PD, Zimmerman S, Suchindran C, Reed P, Wang L, Boustani M, Sudha S (2002). "The public health impact of Alzheimer's disease, 2000–2050: potential implication of treatment advances". Annual Review of Public Health 23: 213–231. Selwood A, Johnston K, Katona C, Lyketsos C, Livingston G (2007). "Systematic review of the effect of psychological interventions on family caregivers of people with dementia". Journal of Affective Disorders 101 (1-3): 75–89. Read More