Presented by BetterHelp.
From home care to life expectancy, to treatment options and more, living with Alzheimer’s can feel daunting. A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease often prompts a landslide of questions and fears regarding your future and the future of those closest to you. While living with a chronic, degenerative disorder is never going to be an easy task, there are steps you can take to make sure that you are living with Alzheimer’s in the best way possible.
The Basics of the Condition
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disorder that affects an individual’s neurological function. The beginning stages of Alzheimer’s typically involve small changes to memory and recall. Someone in the beginning stages of the disease might begin leaving things around the house and be unable to find them. They may struggle to recall dates or names, and begin frequently asking questions about their backgrounds, daily schedules, or the names of acquaintances and places. Many people chalk this type of forgetfulness up to regular aging and don’t think anything of it. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, however, symptoms shift from simple forgetfulness to greater cognitive impairments, including a diminished ability to react to or interact with their environment, declining social skills, and the loss of other skills and abilities.
Alzheimer’s disease is often mistakenly identified as dementia; although it is a type of dementia, and accounts for the vast majority of dementia cases, Alzheimer’s is a separate condition with its own causes, treatments, and management practices. Alzheimer’s disease does have some risk factors, among them age, a family history of the disease, heart disease, and head injury.
Standard Life Expectancies and Timing
Alzheimer’s is typically considered an aggressive disease. People with Alzheimer’s can expect a steady progression of symptoms, though some symptoms may be limited or eased with consistent treatment and the dedication of surrounding friends and family members. Available treatment, the severity of the disease, and the onset of the disease all play a role in the life expectancy of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Someone with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease may experience a more slowly-advancing progression of the disease, while someone who develops Alzheimer’s later in life may see the advanced stages of the disease progress more quickly. An individual with the disease can live up to 20 years after receiving a diagnosis, provided that treatment is undergone as soon as possible, but the average life expectancy following diagnosis is 4-8 years.
Learning to Live With Alzheimer’s
Living with Alzheimer’s is difficult, both for those who have the disease, and those closest to them (learn more). Because Alzheimer’s hones in on functional skills, communicative ability, and cognitive function, people with the disease can find themselves unable to function without aid, and there may be periods of intense fear and anxiety, when once-simple tasks become extremely difficult or even impossible. Living with Alzheimer’s often means surrendering some control of your life and daily habits.
Alzheimer’s patients may require live-in nurses or may feel most comfortable moving into an assisted living home. Others may prefer to stay at home with a beloved partner or children, in order to maintain a semblance of normalcy and comfort as long as possible. No matter which avenue you take, living with Alzheimer’s means living with a degenerative disorder that will slowly erode your ability to recall, communicate, and function overall.
Living with the disease will mean asking for help to make sure your life is kept in order, and may mean engaging in studies and programs to explore treatment avenues. For some, an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is followed by poring over research and chasing treatment to minimize symptoms and prolong cognitive function. For others, a diagnosis spurs a desire to live fully and be wholly present with one’s family members and loved ones. Bot chases will eventually be required to determine the best course of action regarding living situation, caretakers, and potential treatment options.
