Like all diseases, Alzheimer’s disease also progresses in stages, which is one of the neurological conditions, in which the death of brain cells can cause a change in memory and thinking skills. Further, dive into this blog to know more about the stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
In this brain condition, there will be a gradual decline in thinking, change in memory, learning, and organizing skills. After some time, it will disturb the individual’s ability to perform basic daily activities. Also, everyone with Alzheimer’s disease experiences it in different ways, so it is easy to differentiate progression into a series of stages.
Initially, individuals with this disease will experience only a slight change in memory and confusion. This is a cognitive decline, over time the symptoms will be worsened. In the final stage, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease will become unable even to talk with family members or can’t understand what’s going on around them.
Also, there is no permanent cure for this condition, so healthcare providers often focus on slowing the process and ensuring good quality of life. So whenever you suspect that any of your family members are experiencing symptoms, Get proper Alzheimer treatment in Coimbatore to slow down the progression.
What are the stages of Alzheimer’s disease?
Few believe that there are seven stages in this disease, while few others mention that there are only three, like early, middle, and late. Also, the symptoms that occur when they appear will differ from person to person.
The five stages of Alzheimer’s disease include,
– Stage 1: Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
– Stage 2: Mild cognitive impairment.
– Stage 3: Mild dementia
– Stage 4: Moderate dementia
– Stage 5: Severe dementia
Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (Stage 1):
The Alzheimer’s change begins at least a decade before the symptoms start to arise. This stage is called as preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s disease. In this stage, there will be no noticeable symptoms, but imaging tests can spot this.
In individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, the proteins clump together and form plaque. These protein clumps will block cell-to-cell signaling and immune system cells will get activated and trigger inflammation and destroy disabled cells.
Mild cognitive impairment (Stage 2):
This condition occurs before the severe decline of dementia. Individuals above the age of 60 have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), also not everyone will develop dementia. An individual with MCI will experience mild changes in their thinking skills and potential to remember things. They will have brain fog and find it difficult to recollect recent events. These changes will not cause any problems, but close ones can spot the changes.
Symptoms of MCI include:
- Not remembering the conversations, appointments, or even the recent events
- Unable to make judgments
- Struggling to perform a task that contains several steps
- Confused about time, places, and people
- Self-care tasks will be neglected
- Engaging in behavior that causes harmful effects
- Being depressed
- Brain fog
Mild dementia (Stage 3):
Mostly Alzheimer’s disease will be diagnosed in this stage. Family and friends will start to notice issues with your memory and thinking, and the quality of your life will be disturbed.
Mild dementia symptoms include:
- You may not remember the newly learned skills
- Repeatedly asking the same questions
- Struggling to solve the problem and completing the tasks
- Facing a lapse in judgment
- Often feeling irritable or anger
- Finding it difficult to choose the correct word to describe an idea or object
- Misplacing items
- Getting lost
Moderate dementia (Stage 4):
In moderate dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, the affected individual will become increasingly forgetful and confused. They will even need help performing their daily tasks and looking after themselves. This is a prolonged stage and lasts at least for 2 to 4 years.
The common symptoms of moderate dementia include:
- Forgetting the location, even in familiar places
- Unable to recall the day, week, month, and the seasons
- Forgetting friends and family members, and mistaking strangers for family
- Forgetting crucial pieces of information like address
- Recalling favorite memories or creating stories to fill the memory gaps
- Needing help to decide what to wear for the weather or season
- Required assistance in bathing and grooming
- Rarely losing control of the bladder or bowel
- Feeling suspicious over family and friends
- Hearing or listening to things that are not there
- Feeling restless
- Having physical outbursts, which can be aggressive
Usually, when Alzheimer’s disease progresses, affected individuals will feel restless in the evening time and have difficulty sleeping. This condition is referred to as sundowner’s syndrome.
Severe dementia (Stage 5):
In this stage, both mental and physical functioning will decline. Further, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease have a higher chance of developing pneumonia. Pneumonia stands as a common cause of death among individuals with Alzheimer’s disease because losing the ability to swallow means that beverages and food can enter the lungs and lead to infection. Also, dehydration, malnutrition, and other illnesses can result in death.
The common symptoms of severe dementia include:
- Feeling difficult to communicate
- Imagine like they are in the early stages of life
- Unable to recognize familiar faces like family and friends
- Special care is required to eat, dress, and use washroom
- Frequent falls
- Spending lots of time in the bed or chair
- Feeling difficult to swallow
- Losing bladder and bowel control
- Facing hallucinations and delusions
- Being aggressive towards caregivers due to increased fear
What happens if Alzheimer’s progresses?
Everyone doesn’t need to experience Alzheimer’s disease in the same way, the clinical signs of Alzheimer’s disease progress will greatly vary between individuals. An individual will not have all the signs mentioned above, but the symptoms will come and go, even at times the stages can overlap.
Medications will assist in slowing down the progression and may help with memory symptoms and other cognitive changes. The common factors that affect the progression of disease include:
- Age
- Genetic factors
- Individuals with delirium
- Individuals with overlapping problems like heart conditions, diabetes, stroke, and recurrent infections
The lifestyle changes that may assist in slowing down the progression include:
- Following a healthy diet
- Getting sufficient sleep
- Taking medications as directed
- Quit smoking
- Limiting alcohol consumption
- Frequent screenings
In case, an affected individual faces a sudden change in their abilities or behavior, they may undergo other health problems in parallel. It is crucial to seek help from the best neurologist in Coimbatore as soon as possible.
Final thoughts:
In conclusion, we can say that Alzheimer’s disease progresses in five stages like preclinical, mild cognitive, mild dementia, moderate dementia, and severe dementia. Simply, when the disease progresses, the symptoms will worsen, right from the memory lapse in the initial stage to significant cognitive decline and loss of independence in the final stages. Being aware of the stages of Alzheimer’s disease can help in timely diagnosis, proper planning, and managing the conditions more effectively.