Question

246 Diseases of the Human Body Discussion Questions/Personal Reflection I. It has been said that Alzheimer disease is harder on the family members than on the person who has the disease. Discuss why or how this might be true. Talk with someone who has lived with a person who has Alzheimer disease. How can one remain connected to a person with Alzheimer disease?

Answer 1

Alzheimer’s is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that causes dementia. About 60% to 70% of dementia cases are because of Alzheimer’s and the other symptoms include behavioral changes, loss of intellectual ability, problems with language and loss of self-motivation. The gradual decline in bodily functions may cause death after three to nine years of diagnosis.

Alzheimer's patients forget the memories and fail to recognize the family members, and they often say or do odd things. So, it is hard for the family members to take the patient's behavior and some may get hurt deeply if they take it personally. Making the patient to understand the ongoing changes and enable them to cope with the changes is also one of the major challenges for the family members. Some of the Alzheimer's patients exhibit violent behavior as the disease progress, which is problematic for the people around them. One can remain connected to the Alzheimer's patient through the following ways:

• Talking slowly and simplifying the speech
• By identifying the appropriate activities suitable/interested for the person
• Playing games
• Playing board games
• Motivate the music