Spotting the Symptoms And Living with Alzheimer's Disease

The most touching movie that I have ever seen is The Notebook with James Garner and Gena Rowlands. The husband is reading his wife a story about the lives of a young couple in love and the progression of their relationship. I won't ruin ir for those who haven't seen it. I'll just say rent it or better yet buy it. Great movie.

The reason that it sparked such emotion in me is my father developed Alzheimer's Disease in the latter part of his life. We began noticing symptoms one Christmas morning. None of us had ever heard of Alzheimer's and thought his behavior may be do to his blood pressure or some unknown illness, cause he was never sick and wasn't on any medication.

Thereafter, we began to notice more and more symptoms, but, could never convince him to go to the doctor. He would go places and forget where he parked. He swore that he had seen a scorpion in the bedroom. Of course, this gave us all a couple of hours of fright, cause we believed him and proceeded to search the room and house for the creature, until I asked him where did it go and he told me into the bed post. We, then, accepted that there was something terribly wrong and we needed to get him to a doctor.

The final straw came one morning, as I prepared for work; he had a severe episode. He was convinced that the people on the television were looking at him and talking to him. He refused to stay in the house and proceeded to leave the house walking. Then and only then was I able to get him to a doctor. I said everything that I knew to say to bully him into my car and I drove straight to his private physician who admitted him to the psych ward for a month.

That was the hardest month of all our lives cause we all knew him to be strong and never sick. My mother, who hadn't been separated from this man for longer than a week in over 40 years of their marriage was suddenly thrust into being the head of the household and his caregiver.

Alzheimer's Disease is described as a brain disorder which brings about dementia. It causes severe memory loss and effects the behavior of those afflicted with the disease. There are over 5 million people living with this fatal disease, which is the 6th cause of death in the United States. There is no cure, but, thru constant research, many treatments have been developed to slow the progression of the disease and improve the quality of life for the patient. You can take a look at the how the brain works and how it is effected by Alzheimer's http://www.alz.org/brain/01.asp

There are simple warning signs which may indicate that you or a loved one could be in the early onset of Alzheimer's Disease. Here are ten:

1. Memory loss of recently learned information.

2. Difficulty performing daily tasks.

3. Problem recalling the correct words to convey a thought.

4. Disorientation to time and place.

5. Poor or decreased judgment.

6. Problems performing complex mental tasks.

7. Misplacing things.

8. Changes in mood and behavior.

9. Changes in personality.

10. Loss of Initiative.

You can view the complete list of warning signs at http://www.alz.org/index.asp .

When living with a person who has Alzheimer's it is sometimes frustrating and almost always draining. The stages of Alzheimer's can go on for many years. It takes a toll on all family members, especially the primary caregiver. The once healthy and capable loved one, becomes a shell of their usual self and eventually everyone around him becomes a stranger. This sometimes brings about fear in the Alzheimer's patient, because not only does he not know where he is, he doesn't recognize any faces. My father would sometimes give way to outbursts and violence. Sometimes asking to leave, while we try to convince him that he was indeed at home. My mother devotedly cared for my father until his death. She was a true champion of Alzheimer's.

I hope that you will join me in signing on to become an Alzheimer's champion, too, and, also sign the Proclamation asking the next president to make Alzheimer's a national priority. http://www.alz.org/index.asp The Alzheimer's Association is dedicated to shedding light on the disease and ultimately finding a cure through continued research.