Alzhaimer’s decline

Alzhaimer’s dimentia delirium

Earlier today while I was listening to a colleague gives a talk on dementia, (Mary Hulme of Moonstone Geriatrics) this question came up:

“How can some one keep Alzheimer’s from getting worse?”

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common underlying cause of dementia symptoms . It does slowly get worse no matter how . (Given enough years, it will gradually damage the brain at some point of causing a slow death, which is why Alzheimer’s called a terminal disease.)

But on the other hand, we know that some things the progression of brain decline , whereas other things likely to speed up the decline. In other words, the actions t hat we take and do not take can somehow influence a person’s dementia progress .

According to my experience, people often have heard about stuff that might slow down the decline ( is not the best answer ). casino online But it seems to me that is a better option. However, people are often much less well informed about the stuff that can speed up Alzheimer’s decline. Too bad, because also often it ‘s possible to take action to minimize or to avoid things that might cause dementia to get worse even faster.

So , I’m going to write about what I think is the most important thing of these potentially dementia accelerating problems , that is delirium.

is a state of worse than the usual confusion brought on by illness, some kind of stress on the body and/or mind. It is especially common thing happen s during hospitalization.

T he extra confusion of delirium tends to get better by time, but it i s quite important to know the following facts:

saying that experiencing delirium is common, and can really speed up the decline of Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

This could be scary for patients and caregivers to realize. Hence , although it is im possible to avoid all delirium (people get sick, or need to have surgery sometimes), it possible to take the steps that have been proven to reduce the chance of older person will experience delirium while they are hospitalized. is

here to learn more about how you may help prevent delirium during an older person’s hospitalization , I would recommend . this resource on the Hospital Elder Life Program website

When caring for someone with dementia, There are 3 things you can do to avoid mental decline due to delirium:

1. Educate yourself about it. You can learn more about what brings it on, how to handle it, and how to prevent it. See Things to Know About Delirium for further information.
2. Be careful hospitalization and surgery . If you are considering a surgery as an option for your loved one or otherwise is not completely mandatory, please be mindful of the risks factor of accelerating the decline of Alzheimer’s or dementia. For a sad reason of how a family came to regret agreeing to th is (a heart valve repair for an older woman with dementia), you may read this magazine
3. Learn to spot delirium at the hospital . If your loved one with dementia has to be hospitalized and you are a caregiver, try to help hospital staff . Yes, it i s their job indeed , but some studies have shown that busy hospital workers often do not notice delirium in older adults. Family member can help their loved ones to get better care by watching for delirium and getting the doctors to promptly address it if it develops.