Stage 2: Basic Forgetfulness Your loved one might have memory lapses, including forgetting people's names or where they left their keys, but they can still drive, work and be social.
If a person is struggling to remember a name, follow a conversation or recall what they did yesterday, many of us may put it down to the fact that the person is getting older. But it may well be a warning that they are in the early stages of dementia.
Stage seven is the final stage of the dementia progression. At this stage, most people will have no ability to speak or communicate. They will require assistance with most daily activities including walking, dressing, bathing, and toileting. This stage requires 24-hour care and assistance.
Stage 3 is where dementia or Alzheimer's disease symptoms can become more noticeable to friends and family. This stage will not have a major impact on your loved one's everyday life, but signs can include: Trouble with complex tasks and problem-solving. Memory loss and forgetfulness.
If you aren't sure which stage of dementia you or your loved one are in right now, take an online Alzheimer's test. This can help pinpoint an individual's symptoms and stage.
In the final stage of the disease, dementia symptoms are severe. Individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment, to carry on a conversation and, eventually, to control movement. They may still say words or phrases, but communicating pain becomes difficult.
The Mini-Cog test.
A third test, known as the Mini-Cog, takes 2 to 4 minutes to administer and involves asking patients to recall three words after drawing a picture of a clock. If a patient shows no difficulties recalling the words, it is inferred that he or she does not have dementia.
Administration: The examiner reads a list of 5 words at a rate of one per second, giving the following instructions: “This is a memory test. I am going to read a list of words that you will have to remember now and later on. Listen carefully. When I am through, tell me as many words as you can remember.
In the middle stage of dementia, symptoms become more noticeable and the person will need more support in managing daily life. This stage of dementia is often the longest. On average it lasts about two to four years.
Signs of the final stages of dementia include some of the following: Being unable to move around on one's own. Being unable to speak or make oneself understood. Eating problems such as difficulty swallowing.
If the person's mental abilities or behaviour changes suddenly over a day or two, they may have developed a separate health problem. For example, a sudden deterioration or change may be a sign that an infection has led to delirium. Or it may suggest that someone has had a stroke.
The average life expectancy figures for the most common types of dementia are as follows: Alzheimer's disease – around eight to 10 years. Life expectancy is less if the person is diagnosed in their 80s or 90s. A few people with Alzheimer's live for longer, sometimes for 15 or even 20 years.
This Story's Health Experts
Collective sigh of relief: It's probably nothing to worry about. “Not being able to recall a word or name is certainly annoying. But usually, that's all it is,” says Hartford HealthCare geriatrician Taimur Habib, MD. “For most people, it's not a sign of something worse.”
“Forgetting people's names is part of normal ageing. Researchers are concerned about the signs of normal deterioration of memory,” Geir Selbæk says. Not remembering names of people and things can also be a symptom of early-onset Alzheimer's. Many researchers are interested in this.
Q: What memory changes are considered normal as I age? Dr. Lyden: Often people over the age of 50 begin to forget names and specific information. They may misplace their keys more often or need to pause and remember directions.
The main sign of mild cognitive impairment is a slight decline in mental abilities. Examples include: Memory loss: You may forget recent events or repeat the same questions and stories. You may occasionally forget the names of friends and family members or forget appointments or planned events.
The Mini-Mental State Exam is a 30-point test used to measure your loved ones thinking ability, also known as their cognitive impairment. If you suspect that you or a loved one might be developing Alzheimer's disease or another dementia, the Mini-Mental State Exam is a step toward making a diagnosis.
The five-minute cognitive test (FCT) was designed to capture deficits in five domains of cognitive abilities, including episodic memory, language fluency, time orientation, visuospatial function, and executive function.
Some people with dementia may seem like their usual self a lot of the time and you may only notice small changes every now and then. Some people with dementia may not have as many good days. Those days when they do feel more like their old self can be very special. Everyone with dementia is different.
Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)
This test is currently the most widely used cognitive assessment tool. It takes 10-15 minutes to administer. It is scored out of 30, with a score below 24 suggesting dementia. It is used to assess global cognitive status.
What this means is that a person with dementia may not be able to remember what they ate yesterday or a person they met last week, but they may be able to recall memories from their early adulthood or childhood with relative ease.
Dementia stage 5: Moderately severe cognitive decline
At this point, a person may no longer be able to carry out normal activities of daily living (ADLs), such as dressing or bathing, or Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) without some caregiver assistance.
I'm going to discuss five of the most basic ones here: 1) Don't tell them they are wrong about something, 2) Don't argue with them, 3) Don't ask if they remember something, 4) Don't remind them that their spouse, parent or other loved one is dead, and 5) Don't bring up topics that may upset them.