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Linda Henderson’s 80-year-old father had prepared his own taxes for decades. The task, however, became a challenge about 9 years ago when he could no longer remember where to place the figures on the form, or how to calculate them. “At first it was just simple things that he used to be able to do that suddenly he had trouble with,” says the Placentia resident, whose father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Today, he no longer recognizes his wife or children. Memory loss is just one of the difficult realities of the disease, which affects millions of individuals and their families. (The most famous victim, President Reagan, died last month.) According to the Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County, more than 4 million Americans suffer from the degenerative condition. That number is expected to increase to 14 million by the year 2040. As many as 60,000 county residents over the age of 65 have the disease or are at risk of developing it in the near future. Stem cell research may well hold a clue. Families, though, need not fear the worst as there are a number of other conditions that can result in memory loss, says Judy Dickinson, director of volunteer services at the Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County. This is why the first step the association recommends is to get an assessment. “An individual needs a whole series of testing. With Alzheimer’s disease, it’s a process of elimination. If an individual has a thyroid problem, has Vitamin D deficiency, is suffering from malnutrition or depression, these are all things that can contribute to memory problems. So you need to make sure that it’s not something that is treatable and reversible.” Once a diagnosis is confirmed, families should assess the safety of their loved one. Are they eating? Do they remember how to turn on the stove? Are they safe enough to live on their own or is some type of assistance needed? Since the majority of individuals with the disease tend to wander, Dickinson also recommends family members enroll their loved one in the Safe Return Program. The nationwide, community-based safety net for Alzheimer’s patients helps identify, locate and return individuals to safety if they wander or become lost. Forms are available by calling the Orange County Alzheimer’s Association, and can also be printed from its website. A one-time, $40 fee helps offset the cost. Besides wandering, people with the disease can become combative and highly agitated. Medications are available to help reduce these symptoms as well as others. However, as Dickinson points, they don’t work for everyone. “Medications can help the quality of life for quite a while. But what people need to understand is, it will not work for everybody. Many times there are side effects. So sometimes the family will go from one to the other and at the end they may find that none of them worked for their loved one.” Supplemental vitamins, along with lifestyle changes, can sometimes bring relief. The Alzheimer’s Association’s Maintain Your Brain campaign recommends the 3 following steps. • Manage your numbers. Lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and body weight to stay healthy as you age. • Exercise your body and brain. Work out, take a class, converse, read, play cards or work on crossword puzzles. • Feed your brain. Take a multivitamin that includes folic acid, vitamins E and C, and eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. While the campaign was designed for Baby Boomers to aid in education and the prevention of Alzheimer’s, these steps oftentimes benefit those with the disease by reducing the symptoms and/or slowing its progression. And, lastly, caregivers should have a support system in place. The Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County offers a number of support groups. “You need the support of other people,” advises Henderson. “You’ve got to take care of you, so you can take care of your spouse or your parent, whoever has Alzheimer’s. So you need to tell people and be willing to accept help.” For more information on the Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County, call 800.660.1993 or visit www.alzoc.org. 10 WARNING SIGNS 1. Recent memory loss that affects job skills. Everyone forgets things and then recalls them later. Alzheimer’s patients forget things repeatedly, never recall and ask the same question, forgetting the earlier answer. 2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks. They could prepare a meal, forget to serve it and even forget they made it. 3. Problems with language. They may forget simple words or use inappropriate words, making speech incomprehensible. 4. Disorientation of time and place. They may get lost on their own street and forget how they got there or how to get home. 5. Poor or weaker judgment. Even a normal person might get distracted and fail to watch a child. A person with Alzheimer’s disease could entirely forget the child under their care and leave the house. 6. Problems with abstract thinking. Anybody can have trouble balancing a checkbook; a person with Alzheimer’s could forget completely what the numbers are and what needs to be done with them. 7. Misplacing things. They may put things in inappropriate places an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl and not be able to retrieve them. 8. Changes in mood or behavior. Everyone has occasional moods, but people with Alzheimer’s can have rapid mood swings from calm to tears to anger within a few minutes. 9. Changes in personality. They may change drastically and inappropriately, becoming irritable, suspicious or fearful. 10. Loss of initiative. They may become passive and reluctant to get involved in activities. Source: The Alzheimer’s Association of Orange County |
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