Alzheimer: The effect on the family

Introduction

Alzheimer's disease is degenerative changes in the brain and more nerve atrophy. Gradually progressive disorder of the brain leads to a loss of memory, learning ability, understanding, sober thinking, assessment of the situation, deterioration in communication skills and a significant reduction in the ability to cope with activities of daily living (www.csa.com).

So far, no known single cause concrete and Alzheimer's disease, but the scientific community over the past 15 years has made good progress in studies of this disease and thus discovered a lot of factors that may play a key role in the development of the disease. It occurs most often in people over 65 years of age. Sometimes, however, that her people are suffering from much younger. The likelihood of behavior does not affect skin color, educational level or occupation. Sometimes the disease is genetic, but in many cases, this factor does not matter (Hebert, et al., Pp. 1119).

Discussion and Analysis

The disease begins with trouble with the memory, orientation in the field, recognizing people, difficulty in formulating thoughts, loss of previously acquired skills, certain obsessions obsessive compulsive disorder, sleep disorders. Most attribute these symptoms of senile dementia, but one may find that the lost capacity, the information will never come back, and then everything starts to indicate that they are dealing with Alzheimer's disease. The sooner the patient or the family contacts a physician specialist, the greater the chance of slowing the disease. When the illness develops, treatment with little give, the more time is needed to ensure adequate patient care and security (Light, Niederehe & Lebowitz, Pp. 336-346). Unlike various kinds of normal age-related memory impairment, the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease worsen over the years. Also, although most people with occasional forgetfulness can compensate by using reminders and notes, the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's soon makes a person unable to manage daily work and social life. Even at this middle stage of the disease, many family members still deny the diagnosis or refuse help. At this stage, too, it is particularly common for family members to begin to experience feelings of loss, guilt, and fear, and to begin to neglect their own health. It is also typical for them to isolate themselves from friends and family as they devote more time to the Alzheimer's patient, whose behavior may be a source of embarrassment which further reinforces the caregiver's isolation. This isolation often only exacerbates negative feelings and undermines the overall well-being of the caregiver. It is only at this point that many families exhausted physically and spiritually from the ordeal, resign themselves to placing the patient in a nursing home and may experience deep feelings of guilt and grief (Klunk, et al., Pp. 306-319).

Many make the mistake of relieving care givers of patients in the basic activities of life and not forcing them to any intellectual effort. This behavior accelerates the development of the disease, although it should be noted that each time it is an individual matter. Caring for relatives with ...