By : Lamiaa Moustafa Elbosaty
The individual with mild Alzheimer's disease continues to look and act normally to others, and only close family or friends may note any change. There is moderate memory loss, more marked for recent events that interfere with every day activities. The individual has difficulty learning and retaining new information. In addition, there may be disorientation in familiar places, difficulty handling complex financial transactions (paying bills, balancing a check book), and poor problem solving (Reisberg, et al., 2003).
The individual is independent in completing usual activities of daily livings (ADLs) but may need prompting to complete tasks. The ability to participate in complex home repairs and hobbies is reduced. The individual may experience personality changes of withdrawal from usual social activities because of fear of others detecting changes, lack of confidence in function, or lack of interest in his/her usual activities (Linton & Lach, 2007).
· Moderate Alzheimer's Disease:
In moderate Alzheimer's disease, memory loss is sever and only highly learned material or established memory is retained, while new material is lost rapidly. As the damage of Alzheimer's disease spreads in cerebral cortex, language, reasoning, sensory processing, and conscious thought are impaired. The individual may be confused about the identity and relationships of relatives. The individual becomes increasingly dependent on the others and assistance is needed to carry out ADLs (Monias & Meier, 2003).
The individual may get lost in familiar settings, language changes are revealed as incomplete sentences and poor comprehension of written and spoken language. At this stage of Alzheimer's disease, disruptive behavioral changes often emerge. Agitation, restlessness (including wandering), sleep disturbances, day-night disorientation, verbal or physical aggression, suspiciousness, and hallucinations are common behaviors manifested (ADRDA, 2004).
The individual has decreased tolerance for stress and can't reliably interpret the environment. Disinhibition, socially in appropriate behaviors, and saying or doing things not usually said or done in public occur at this stage. Also there are weight loss, and dehydration which require careful monitoring (Monias & Meier, 2003).
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