November is Designated as Alzheimer's Awareness Month

Alzheimer’s disease or Alzheimer’s type dementia is a progressive degeneration of brain tissue that primarily strikes people over the age of 65.  People often ask me what the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia is.  I like to explain it as dementia as the category.  A good example would be the category is soda; within that category are Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and root beer.  The category is Dementia; within that category are Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Alzheimer’s, Pick’s Disease, Crutzfeldt – Jakub Disease, Huntington Disease, Parkinson Disease, Lewy Body Disease, to name a few.  Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia and is marked by a devastating mental decline in which intellectual functions such as memory, comprehension, and speech deteriorate.  

Attention tends to stray, simple calculations become impossible, and ordinary daily activities grow increasingly difficult with bewilderment and frustration.  Often, these symptoms tend to worsen at night.  Dramatic mood swings occur – outbursts of anger, bouts of fearfulness, and periods of deep apathy.  The sufferer, increasingly disoriented, may wander off and become lost.  Physical problems such as an odd gait or a loss of coordination gradually develop.  Eventually, the patient may become physically helpless, incontinent, and unable to communicate entirely. 

Alzheimer’s Disease can run its course from onset to death in just a few years, or it may play out over a period of as long as 20 years.  It is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.  Every 69 seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s: one person out of eight who are over the age of 65 has the disease.

The gradual loss of brain function that characterizes Alzheimer’s Disease seems to be due to two main forms of nerve damage: nerve cell develop tangles and protein deposits known as plaques that build up in the brain. 

Some forms of dementia can be treated: dementia caused by chronic alcohol or drug abuse, tumors, hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, metabolic disorders, subdural hematoma.  Non-treatable causes of dementia include: Alzheimer’s disease Vascular Alzheimer’s and other dementia’s listed above.

Six months ago I received a call from Mary; she reads my articles and had been searching everywhere for her friend, Shirley, to have a place to go to relate with others in her condition.  I was her last hope.  At the age of 75, Shirley had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and had left the doctor’s office scared, frustrated, and sad.  With the information from her friend Mary, I was able to start a unique and very special Alzheimer’s peer group.  We meet the 1st Tuesday of every month at North Crest Assisted Living for lunch, giving the group a chance to discuss their Alzheimer’s; what they are feeling and going through themselves, and with their loved ones.  We close with a short Dementia/Alzheimer’s education training. 

If you are interested or know someone who would benefit please contact me at northcrest@centralwisconsinseniorliving.org or call 715-343-1288. 

Lori Schuler is the Marketing and Activity Director with Central Wisconsin Senior Living