Here Are 4 Tips That Should Help You Perfect Your Pronunciation Of ‘alzheimer’:
- Break ‘alzheimer’ down into sounds:say it out loud and exaggerate the sounds until you can consistently produce them.
- Record yourself saying ‘alzheimer’ in full sentences, then watch yourself and listen. You’ll be able to mark your mistakes quite easily.
- Look up tutorials on Youtube on how to pronounce ‘alzheimer’.
- Focus on one accent: mixing multiple accents can get really confusing especially for beginners, so pick one accent and stick to it.
Trying To Identify The Cause
One of the best ways to deal with an angry person is to try and figure out what has triggered the mood swing.
Numerous factors can cause this type of reaction.
This can include physical discomfort which can be as a result of medical conditions, lack of enough sleep or rest, hunger, thirst, or side effects caused by medications a person is taking.
Environmental factors such as feelings of being lost or overstimulation can also evoke anger in a person who is affected by the illness.
Identifying the CAUSE of the behavior helps you to rectify it fast to ensure that the person with dementia is as comfortable as possible.
For instance, if the individual is hungry or thirsty giving them a drink and food can help correct the problem.
Supporting The Family Caregivers Health & Wellbeing
The challenges faced by spousal care partners place great strain on their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. An estimated 40% to 70% of family caregivers experience significant symptoms of depression, with both men and women reporting that caring for a spouse or child is more stressful than caring for an aging parent. Meanwhile, a 2007 meta-analysis of 176 studies published in The Journals of Gerontology found that informal caregivers exhibit worse physical health than non-caregivers, with 18% to 35% perceiving their health as fair or poor.
Bonigut says that she often presents caregivers with the airline safety analogy the fact that you cant help anyone else until youve donned your own oxygen mask. Its not selfish to take that self-care time, she said. Caregivers have difficulty scheduling respite time to exercise, go for a walk, see a movie, or simply run errands. During the pandemic, some have gotten creative: One woman had a home care person come in so that she could hide out in her bedroom alone, Bonigut said. Another had a care provider read to the person with dementia over Zoom for an hour. A major supportive action that people can provide yet rarely think to offer is simply to sit with the person with dementia and make such time available, Bonigut said.
Taking the person who has dementia or the caregiving spouse out for a walk provides respite.
Vincent Antenucci recommends actively engaging the person with dementia.
Recommended Reading: Does Smelling Farts Help Prevent Dementia
How Do You Know If You Have Dementia
Is there one specific examination or procedure that can lead to a dementia diagnosis? Simply put, no. There is no single test that will tell you or your doctor definitively whether a person has dementia or not. A diagnosis is made by excluding other causes for the symptoms combined with clinical judgment, so it might be beneficial to get a second opinion. The following are the most concerning indications that should prompt further evaluation by a licensed medical professional.
Forgetting the names of loved ones or close friends.
Establish Whether Or Not They Are Feeling Unhappy Or Lonely
A person with dementia may want to ‘go home’ because of feelings of anxiety, insecurity, depression or fear.
Is the person with dementia happy or unhappy now? If they are unhappy, it may be possible to discover why. If they cannot tell you why, perhaps a member of the staff or another resident knows why.
Like other people, someone with dementia may act out of character to the people closest to them as a result of a bad mood or bad day.
Does the person with dementia keep talking about going home when people are not visiting them in the care home? Does he or she seem to have settled otherwise? The staff in the home may know.
You May Like: What Is The Difference Between Dementia And Senility
How To Talk To A Parent When They First Show Signs Of Dementia
Is your mother or father acting differently? Do you suspect that something is off and that your loved one might be displaying dementia symptoms? There are a number of tell-tale signs that your family member might be having more than just a bad day.
Youve probably heard that older people may have excellent recall about things that happened decades ago, but will struggle to find the right words to say or remember why they walked into the kitchen. Treasure the former and take note of the latter.
Some symptoms of dementia are not related to memory problems. For example, you could notice someone becoming moodier. Emotional issues including depression often crop up during the early phase of dementia. Personality changes with dementia are also common, but there are ways to cope and understand what your loved one is going through.
You might also observe a lack of interest in things your family member always enjoyed. They could become confused more easily, or have a habit of repeating themselves.
Have you noticed one or more of these things? If so, are you having an imaginary conversation in your head where you discuss it with your parent? If you are like many adult children, you are scared to have this difficult conversation in the real world.
Being fearful is understandable. On the other hand, waiting to talk about it might delay treatment options that could help your parent.
What Will The Doctor Do
It can be hard for a doctor to diagnose Alzheimer disease because many of its symptoms can be like those of other conditions affecting the brain. The doctor will talk to the patient, find out about any medical problems the person has, and will examine him or her.
The doctor can ask the person questions or have the person take a written test to see how well his or her memory is working. Doctors also can use medical tests to take a detailed picture of the brain. They can study these images and look for signs of Alzheimer disease.
When a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer disease, the doctor may prescribe medicine to help with memory and thinking. The doctor also might give the person medicine for other problems, such as depression . Unfortunately, the medicines that the doctors have can’t cure Alzheimer disease they just help slow it down.
You May Like: Does Meredith Grey Have Alzheimer’s
If He Or She Doesn’t Recognise Their Environment As ‘home’ At That Moment Then For That Moment It Isn’t Home
Try this instead:
Try to understand and acknowledge the feelings behind the wish to go home. Find out where ‘home’ is for them – it might not be the last place they lived. It could be where they lived before moving recently or it could be somewhere from their distant past.
Often people with dementia describe ‘home’ as a pleasant, peaceful or idyllic place where they were happy. They could be encouraged to talk about why they were happy there. This can give an idea as to what they might need to feel better.
How Do You Calm Down An Angry Person With Dementia
As a caregiver, we commonly ask ourselves: how do you calm down an angry person with dementia?
This is because it is normal for some persons with dementia to develop aggressive behaviors which can be physical or verbal as the condition becomes worse.
It can occur as a result of a frustrating situation. Even completely out of the blue.
When this happens, there are SEVERAL WAYS that we can use to calm down an angry person who has dementia.
Recommended Reading: What Is The Difference Between Dementia And Senility
Taking Action To Support A Friend Whose Spouse Has Dementia
Once a diagnosis has been established, experts advocate encouraging the caregiver to receive training about the condition and educating oneself as well. Heuer said that books such as The Mindful Caregiver by Nancy Kriseman or The 36-Hour Day by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins are illuminating and can soothe spousal care partners while deepening their comprehension. Some knowledge and understanding can help with interaction even with the person that is the caregiver, she said. One of the biggest things is not to take things personally from the caregiver, because theyre going through a lot.
Amy Torres, director of training at CaringKind Credit: CaringKind
Stefanie Bonigut at the Grand Canyon in a Walk to End Alzheimers T-shirt
Stefanie Bonigut, the family services manager at the Alzheimers Association of Northern California and Northern Nevada, provides local follow-up for the national helpline, which offers confidential support and information to people living with dementia, their caregivers and others. She also leads workshops and facilitates support groups that can provide a nonjudgmental space for spousal care partners to vent their true feelings and be understood. Even though every single one of them will be in a different situation, they just feel like everybody in the group gets it, Bonigut said. Unless youre living with it, you dont fully understand.
Kathy Stewart suggests being a sounding boardCredit: Aegis Living
Avoid Arguing About Whether They Are Already Home’
For a person with dementia, the term ‘home’ may describe something more than the place they currently live. Often when a person with dementia asks to go home it refers to the sense of home rather than home itself.
Home may represent memories of a time or place that was comfortable and secure and where they felt relaxed and happier. It could also be an indefinable place that may not physically exist.
Its best not to disagree with the person or try to reason with them about wanting to go home.
Don’t Miss: Does Smelling Farts Help Prevent Dementia
Say What You Need To Saykindly
Dont bombard your mom or dad with questions right away. Cover one thought or idea at a time and give them plenty of time to respond. They will likely be overwhelmed by the news and may not be able to process all of the details. Instead of getting upset, focus on speaking with kindness and validation. Using validation to communicate through dementia is an effective way to accept their reality and reduce agitation.
As the disease progresses, if your parent isnt getting what you are trying to say, dont repeat the same question. Instead, try putting things another way. For instance, show them a photo of someone you are talking about. It can also be helpful to stick with questions that can be answered yes or no.
How Do You Say I Love You When Your Loved One Has Alzheimers
In our book, Keeping Love Alive as Memories Fade: The 5 Love Languages and the Alzheimers Journey, my coauthors and I share some thought-provoking truths about the way Alzheimers disease affects personal relationships. One such truth is that people with Alzheimers often continue to experience emotions, whether positive or negative, after they have forgotten what triggered the feeling. That is, even in the absence of memory, their emotions persist.
This is more than just an interesting fact it is vital information for anyone who wants to sustain an emotional connection with a person whose cognitive abilities are declining due to Alzheimers disease.
What does this persistence of feelings apart from memory mean in practical terms? Here are two examples:
- If you say something that causes a person with Alzheimers to laugh, the positive feelings generated in that moment are likely to persist even after they have forgotten what had seemed so funny.
- If a person with Alzheimers cannot remember that their spouse has died, each time someone reminds them that their mate has passed away, it is as if the person is learning of their spouses death for the first time. The sorrow triggered by this news can continue to color their mood after they have again forgotten the reason for their sadness.
In case you are not familiar with the five love languages, here is a quick overview:
1Edmarie Guzma et al., Feelings Without Memory in Alzheimer Disease, Cogn Behav Neurol 27 : 117129.
You May Like: What Color Ribbon Is Alzheimer’s
Strategies For Praying With Dementia Patients And Alzheimers Patients
In the following ideas you will be leading andenabling the prayer while inviting your loved one to respond with a posture, agesture or a word. The common theme inall of these prayer ideas is create a way for your loved one to do something concreteto participate in prayer.
Observers have reported unexpected moments of clarity inmemory care patients in response to familiar prayers and hymns. Although these are unpredictable andsometimes rare, be content to know that prayer is something mysterious that happensin our hearts and spirits where we may not perceive their activity.
A writer friend of mine recently interviewed a chaplain whobelieves that those in memory care lose their earliest childhood memories last. Since we were with God even before we wereborn while still in the womb, this awareness of God and familiar prayers andsongs are often retained until the very end.
Since Alzheimers and Dementia patients differ in theirabilities and these change over time, choose from the following ideas to decidewhich ones your loved one might be able to best enjoy.
The Ambiguity Of Losing Someone To Alzheimers
As painful as it was to watch my father waste away, I knew what he was up against.
There were scans, films we could hold up to the light, blood markers. I knew what chemo and radiation would do what hed look and feel like. I asked where it hurt, what I could do to make it a little better. I massaged lotion into his arms when his skin burned from the radiation, rubbed his calves when they were sore.
When the end came, I sat by his side as he lay in a hospital bed in the family room. He couldnt talk because of a massive tumor blocking his throat, so he squeezed my hands hard when it was time for more morphine.
We sat together, our shared history between us, and when he couldnt go on any longer, I leaned in, cradled his head in my hands, and whispered, Its OK, Pop. You can go now. Well be OK. You dont have to hurt anymore. He turned his head to look at me and nod, took one last long, rattling breath, and went still.
It was the hardest and most beautiful moment of my life, knowing he trusted me to hold him as he died. Seven years later, I still get a lump in my throat when I think about it.
In contrast, Moms blood work is fine. Theres nothing in her brain scan that explains her confusion or what makes her words come out in the wrong order or stick in her throat. I never know what Ill encounter when I visit her.
When I visit shes kind, but she doesnt know me at all. Is she there? Am I? Being forgotten by my own mother is the loneliest thing Ive ever experienced.
Read Also: How To Stop Alzheimer’s Patient From Picking Skin
What Causes Childhood Alzheimers
Both types of childhood Alzheimers are caused by genetics. The diseases are recessive, so both parents need to be a carrier of the gene for a child to inherit the condition.
Children born to parents who both carry the genes that cause childhood Alzheimers have a 1 in 4 chance of developing the condition.
Parents pass down genes that are unable to produce the correct protein cells need to work. When the lysosomes of cells cant work as they should, the body cant produce the other things it needs to function properly.
Eventually, fats, cholesterol, or sugars will build up in the cells of an affected child. This will lead to a decline in brain and organ function.
Why Do Short Sentences Work Better In Dementia
Alzheimers and dementia affect the brains ability to process and retrieve information.
That can make it very difficult for someone with dementia to listen, understand, and respond appropriately to normal conversation.
Thats why using short, direct sentences with only one thought per sentence is recommended.
It makes it easier for someone with dementia to understand what youre saying. Thoughts that are long or complex can be overwhelming because its too much to process.
This technique might feel strange at first because were used to using friendly conversation to fill the silence, let someone know whats happening, or to show that we care.
But combining fewer words with a warm and positive tone will be less frustrating for seniors with dementia and is just as kind.
Also Check: What Color Ribbon Is Alzheimer’s
What Causes Alzheimer Disease
Lots of research is being done to find out more about the causes of Alzheimer disease. There is no one reason why people get it. Older people are more likely to get it, and the risk increases the older the person gets. In other words, an 85-year-old is more likely to get it than a 65-year-old. And women are more likely to get it than men.
Researchers also think genes handed down from family members can make a person more likely to get Alzheimer disease. But that doesn’t mean everyone related to someone who has it will get the disease. Other things may make it more likely that someone will get the disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Down syndrome, or having a head injury.
On the positive side, researchers believe exercise, a healthy diet, and taking steps to keep your mind active may help delay the start of Alzheimer disease.