Alzheimer's Club

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a group of conditions that all gradually destroy brain cells and lead to decline in mental function.

"You have to imagine that the family member of yours has a broken brain," said Lynda Markut, director of consultation and training/dementia care specialist at Family Alliance, Inc. in Woodstock. "When you think: 'How could they do that?' You have to remember their brains are not working properly. They are really trying to use every little bit of reserve capacity they can."

Dementia is a term for a syndrome that covers a variety of symptoms, with Alzheimer's at the most severe extreme. Vascular dementia, another common form, results from reduced blood flow to the brain's nerve cells. In some cases, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia can occur together in a condition called "mixed dementia." Other causes of dementia include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Parkinson's disease.

"Dementia is brain failure," Markut said, "and with every type of dementia, there will be different symptoms."

With Alzheimer's disease there is some short-term memory loss, trouble learning and recalling information recently presented. Other symptoms include difficulty naming items, forgetting the order of things, an inability to recognize everyday objects and difficulty in making a plan and following it.

They know what a pen is used for, Markut said, but they may not be able to name it. They may slip their socks over their shoes.

"They get up on the morning and know they have to go to the store," Markut said. "Then they sit down, put a pen in their hand and forget what they wrote. They can't execute ... With Alzheimer's, if all the cabinet doors are closed, in my mind there is no food in the kitchen."

It is important that things are readily accessible and visible. For example, leaving a light on in the bathroom at night helps an Alzheimer's patient find the toilet. Caregivers also can help out by with reminder notes and by substituting words they can comprehend.

The idea is to communicate, to stimulate their brains.

Staying active stimulates the brain and lessens the risk of depression. Markut said it also seems to have an inhibiting effect on the "tangles" and "plaque" that choke off and kill the brain cells, or neurons. Working the brain creates new pathways, not unlike rerouting electricity around a downed wire.

"The people who have linguistic richness can have tangles, but not as early," Markut said. "The more neuro-pathways in the brain, the more routes you have to get information."

Researchers are not sure what causes Alzheimer's disease. But Markut said evidence suggests a genetic propensity in one's family can contribute to an early onset of the disease.

"I've been in the field for 23 years and I have never seen the diagnosis proceed in the same fashion in any one person," said Markut, who co-wrote "Dementia Caregivers Share Their Stories: A Support Group in a Book" published in May 2005. She said the book, which relays the stories of 28 families, helps people they are not alone.

"They fight care. They fight people coming in to give them a bath, because they don't understand the limitations the illness has imposed on them," Markut said. "It is not just physically draining, it is emotionally draining ... You never feel like you are doing anything right, because the person keeps changing."

Source: Kurt Begalka. Dementia illnesses require individual care. Sun City Herald (9 Mar 2006) [FullText]