As
we understood it, our grandmother had Alzheimer’s for the last 10 years of her
life (2002-2012). However, upon researching some of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s
we now recall behaviors that fit the recognized symptoms of Alzheimer’s much
earlier on. In the mid 1990’s our grandmother believed someone had stolen
something out of her purse at the grocery store. (This was very
uncharacteristic behavior.)
As far back as the
mid 1990’s, marked grandmother’s dismissal of important discussions and events
with short phrases (most commonly) “Take it with the grain.” Although her usage
suggested, “dismiss it – it’s not important” the real meaning of the idiom
according to the online
dictionary is “to consider something to be not completely true or right.”
So, at that point she was already mixing up idioms. Our belief was that her
dismissals indicated apathy or lack of interest. However, in hindsight the
improper idiom usage suggests something far more serious brewing. The idioms
she used quickly ended conversations, and considering another symptom of
Alzheimer’s is problems finding words and/or expressing oneself in
conversations, it might have been the root cause for her to say such things.
Around the late
1990’s grandma nearly stopped driving. Although she never explained why she
seldom went out alone, it seems likely that she was becoming fearful of getting
lost in her own town. When grandpa
chose to move them both to San Diego in 2000, grandma never drove again.
Considering how she was not confident enough to drive freely in a city she’d
lived in for over 30 years, we can only imagine how fearful driving around an
entirely new city would have made her.
When looked at
through the filter of early-onset Alzheimer’s symptoms, we see that our
grandmother’s development of the disease began much earlier than any of us
realized.
Statistics
on Alzheimer’s
It is estimated
that around 18 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s, according to the CDC’s webpage on World
Alzheimer’s Day using numbers provided by the World Health Organization
(WHO). The WHO estimates the number of people with
Alzheimer’s to total 34 million by 2025. Some additional facts as
highlighted by the CDC’s website on Alzheimer’s are:
·
2.6 million to 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s.
·
Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of
death for adults over age 18.
·
Alzheimer’s is the 5th leading cause of
death for adults over age 64.
·
Presently, healthcare costs for persons with
Alzheimer’s are $183 billion in the US.
Diagnosing
Alzheimer’s
According to the
Alzheimer’s Association (ALZ.org), “there is no single clinical
test that can identify
Alzheimer’s.” For diagnosing
Alzheimer’s, ALZ.org explains that evaluation methods include “a complete
health history, physical examination, neurological and mental status
assessments, analysis of blood and urine, electrocardiogram, and possibly an
imaging exam such as CT or MRI.” A 2011-2012 progress report by the National
Institute on Aging explains advancements in detecting Alzheimer’s to
include genetic markers, insulin resistance and brain glucose uptake;
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers; imaging the living brain (looking for
cortical thinning); combining genetics, CSF and Imaging Biomarkers; Sensory
changes (like loss of smell) and Motor Changes (walking speed changes). [This
last marker of gait
speed predicting Alzheimer’s was researched by Portland’s very own Oregon
Health and Sciences University and announced in July of 2012.]
Symptoms of
Alzheimer’s
According to the Mayo
Clinic, some symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease include:
·
Memory (unknowingly repeating statements, forgetting
appointments or conversations – and not remembering them later,
misplacing items, forgetting names of loved ones or everyday items)
·
Disorientation & Misinterpreting Spatial
Relationships (losing the sense of the day of the week or seasons of the year,
“getting lost in familiar places”)
·
Speaking and Writing (trouble finding the right words
to identify things or express oneself, trouble taking part in conversations)
·
Thinking and Reasoning (problems managing finances,
balancing checking accounts, and keeping track of bills, usually attributed to
difficulty recognizing and understanding numbers)
·
Making Judgments and Decisions (burning food on the
stove, trouble driving)
·
Planning and Performing Familiar Tasks (familiar
routines and tasks become a struggle, such as planning and cooking a meal or
playing a game)
·
Changes in Personality and Behavior (some people with
Alzheimer’s may experience: “depression, social withdrawal, mood swings,
distrust in others, irritability and aggressiveness, changes in sleeping
habits, wandering, loss of inhibitions, delusions, such as believing something
has been stolen.”
Biological Causes of
Alzheimer’s
The Mayo
Clinic lists the causes of Alzheimer’s as resulting from “a combination of
genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors that affect the brain over
time.” Alzheimer’s disease
“damages and kills brain cells” and with fewer brain cells there are “fewer
connections among surviving cells” of the brain leading to more cells dying and
“significant brain shrinkage.” Two abnormalities of the disease have been
noted, according to the Mayo
Clinic as plaques (“clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid…interfering
with cell-to-cell communication”) and tangles (the internal system of the brain
carrying nutrients and other essential materials depends on a protein called
“tau” and when tau protein twists into “abnormal tangles inside brain cells”
this leads to “failure of the transport system” which causes “decline and death
of brain cells.”)
Alzheimer’s Lifestyle Risk
Factors
According to the Mayo
Clinic some Alzheimer’s disease lifestyle risks include: “lack of exercise,
smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, poorly controlled diabetes,
a diet lacking in fruits and vegetables, and lack of social engagement.” Other
factors may include previous trauma to the head, gender (more women than men
develop Alzheimer’s), family history and genetics, and age (the risk increases
after age 65 and “nearly half
of those older than age 85 have Alzheimer’s” says the Mayo Clinic.
Please Share With Others &
Add your Comments Below
Our hope is that
by sharing and talking about Alzheimer’s experiences with others, we can help
to inform those who are less aware so they may watch for symptoms in loved ones
and have greater compassion and understanding for others facing the disease.
