How Long Can A Person Live With Dementia

Planning For The Future: Tips For Caregivers

Making health care decisions for someone who is no longer able to do so can be overwhelming. Thats why it is important to plan health care directives in advance. To help plan for the future, you can:

• Start discussions early with your loved one so they can be involved in the decision-making process.
• Get permission in advance to talk to the doctor or lawyer of the person youre caring for, as needed. There may be questions about care, a bill, or a health insurance claim. Without consent, you may not be able to get needed information.
• Consider legal and financial matters, options for in-home care, long-term care, and funeral and burial arrangements.

Learning about your loved ones disease will help you know what to expect as the dementia progresses and what you can do.

How Can I Support Someone With Dementia Towards The End Of Life

Knowing the person will make it easier to provide person-centred care that is focused on what they need and want. It can help to know about their likes, dislikes and their wishes for how they want to be cared for. If the person isnt able to tell you about themselves, speak to their family, friends or other people who know them well.

Its a good idea to find out if the person has a copy of This is me ;, a document that records information about themselves.;If you cant speak to the person, ask those close to them if they have a copy. They may have these details recorded in their care plan.

There are many ways to support someone with dementia at the end of life.

How Is Dementia Treated

Treatment of dementia depends on its cause. For example, dementia that has developed due to vitamin deficiency can be treated with vitamin supplements and hence is reversible. Other causes of dementia such as depression, thyroid problems can also be treated.;

For progressive dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease, no treatment can halt its progression, and research is still going on to find out the same. But, some medications may temporarily help relieve its symptoms such as memory loss and confusion. These are:

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How Quickly Does Dementia Progress

The progression of dementia in your loved one is as individual as the person who has it. There is no specific roadmap or timeline to transition through the seven stages. But all types of dementia are progressive and damaging over time. Several factors can affect the rate of progression; these include:

• Age

What Happens In Pdd

People with PDD may have trouble focusing, remembering things or making sound judgments. They may develop depression, anxiety or irritability. They may also hallucinate and see people, objects or animals that are not there. Sleep disturbances are common in PDD and can include difficulties with sleep/wake cycle or REM behavior disorder, which involves acting out dreams.

PDD is a disease that changes with time. A person with PDD can live many years with the disease. Research suggests that a person with PDD may live an average of 57 years with the disease, although this can vary from person to person.

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Be Aware Of Their Eating And Drinking

The person may have lost their appetite or have difficulties swallowing safely. In the last days, the person may stop eating or drinking. This can be very distressing to watch, but it is normal for people approaching the end of life.

You should offer the person food and drink for as long as it is safe and they show an interest. Its important to keep the persons mouth comfortable provide sips of fluids and keep lips moist and clean.

Support Their Cultural And Spiritual Needs

Its good to be aware of the persons cultural and spiritual needs and make sure these are respected and supported. You can make use of any advance care plans or documents, friends and family input and your knowledge of the person. Its important to try and meet these needs as much as possible, they are just as important as medical care.

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Tips For Caregivers And Families Of People With Dementia

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• Planning for the Future

A caregiver, sometimes referred to as a caretaker, refers to anyone who provides care for another person. Millions of people living in the United States take care of a friend or family member with Alzheimers disease or a related dementia. Sometimes caregivers live with the person or nearby, other times they live far away. For many families, caring for a person with dementia isnt just one persons job, but the role of many people who share tasks and responsibilities. No matter what kind of caregiver you are, taking care of another person can be overwhelming at times. These tips and suggestions may help with everyday care and tasks.

What Is The Life Expectancy For Someone With Dementia

This is an incredibly difficult question to answer as there are many influencing factors, including the persons age and gender, the type of dementia and the stage of the condition at diagnosis. The average life expectancy after diagnosis for someone with Alzheimers, the most common form of dementia is 10 years. However, dementia progresses differently in everyone, meaning people can live anywhere from 2 years to 26 years after diagnosis.;

The main way in which health care professionals estimate dementia life expectancy is by using the Global Deterioration Scale , also called the Reisberg Scale. It shows the average time someone is expected to live depending on which stage of dementia they are at.

Read our guide on the types of Power of Attorney and how to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney.;

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Life Expectancy And Dementia With Lewy Bodies

Dementia with Lewy bodies accounts for around 7% of cases of dementia. Lewy bodies are tiny protein deposits that affect thought, memory and movement and are linked to both dementia and Parkinsons disease.

Hallucinations, sleep disturbance, and movement problems can be an early feature in dementia with Lewy bodies, so that diagnosis may be made at an earlier stage. Some research suggests that survival can be significantly shorter with this challenging condition, however, the Alzheimer’s Society says:

Treatments For Vascular Dementia

There’s currently;no cure for vascular dementia and there’s no way to reverse any loss of brain cells that happened before;the condition;was diagnosed.

But treatment can sometimes help slow down vascular dementia.

Treatment aims to tackle the underlying cause, which;may reduce the speed at which brain cells are lost.

This will often involve:

• taking medicines, such as those used to treat high blood pressure, lower cholesterol;or prevent;blood clots

Other treatments,;including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dementia activities and;psychological therapies,;can;help reduce the impact of any existing problems.

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Stage : Moderately Severe Decline

During the fifth stage of Alzheimers, people begin to need help with many day-to-day activities. People in stage five of the disease may experience:

• Difficulty dressing appropriately
• Inability to recall simple details about themselves such as their own phone number
• Significant confusion

On the other hand, people in stage five maintain functionality. They typically can still bathe and toilet independently. They also usually still know their family members and some detail about their personal histories, especially their childhood and youth.

What Is The Best Way To Communicate With A Person With Pdd

PD-related mood and motor changes can impact communication; cognitive changes and Parkinsons disease dementia can further these difficulties.;

• It is not usually helpful to try to reason or argue with someone experiencing a hallucination or delusion. Stay calm and be patient. If the person is frightened by the hallucination or delusion, try to redirect their attention to something else.;
• You may find acknowledging what the person is seeing, even if you do not see it, can reduce stress.;
• Speak slowly and at eye level. Communicate in simple sentences.;
• Ask one question at a time and wait for an answer.;
• Limit distractions. Turn off the TV or radio before asking a person with PDD to do something.;
• Consider causes behind disruptive behavior: the person may be hungry, thirsty, tired, in pain, frustrated, lonely or bored.;
• If the person is stuck on an idea, try agreeing with them, then changing the subject.;
• Its OK to use humor to diffuse stressful situations but avoid negative humor or sarcasm these can be misunderstood.

Page reviewed by Dr. Jori Fleisher, MSCE, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences at Rush University Medical Center, a Parkinsons Foundation Center of Excellence.

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Average Dementia Survival: 45 Years

Study of Dementia Patients Shows Women Live Slightly Longer Than Men

Jan. 10, 2008 — The average survival time for people diagnosed with dementia is about four and a half years, new research shows. Those diagnosed before age 70 typically live for a decade or longer.

In an effort to learn more about survival characteristics among patients with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, researchers from the U.K.’s University of Cambridge followed 13,000 people who were aged 65 and older for 14 years.

During the follow-up, 438 of the study participants developed dementia and 356 of these people died.

Overall, women lived slightly longer than men after a diagnosis of dementia — around 4.6 years vs. 4.1 years. And frailer patients died sooner than healthier ones.

But being married, living at home, and even degree of mental decline were not found to have a big impact on survival.

The research is published in the Jan. 11 issue of the journal BMJ Online First.

“When we took everything into account, the big predictors of how long people survive remain sex, age, and functional ability,” University of Cambridge professor of epidemiology Carol Brayne tells WebMD. “Functional ability was a much better marker of how close someone was to death than cognitive decline.”

Do You Die From Dementia

The forgetfulness, confusion and communication problems of dementia are caused by increasing damage to cells in the brain. But the brain doesn’t just control memory and thought; it is also the control centre for the body. Progressive brain cell death will eventually cause the digestive system, lungs, and heart to fail, meaning that dementia is a terminal condition. Studies suggest that, on average, someone will live around ten years following a dementia diagnosis. However, this can vary significantly between individuals, some people living for more than twenty years, so it’s important to try not to focus on the figures and to make the very most of the time left.

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Does The Type Of Dementia Affect Life Expectancy

The type of dementia a person has can also affect how long they live with dementia. These figures for the number of years a person may live after a diagnosis are just averages and some people live longer than this.

This information may be upsetting to read and think about but it is very important to remember that, with the right support, people with dementia can live well at all stages.;

Changes In Mood Emotions And Perceptions

Changes in mood remain in the later stages of dementia. Depression and apathy are particularly common.

Delusions and hallucinations ;are most common in the late stage of dementia. They are not always distressing but they can explain some changes in behaviour because the persons perception of reality is altered.

People with later stage dementia often respond more to senses than words. They may like listening to songs or enjoy textures. For example, they may like the feel of different types of material.

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Stage : Very Mild Cognitive Decline

Stage 2 can vary between typical age-related memory problems that most seniors face, such as forgetting specific dates or slower recall of a name or word. Or this stage could include some of the beginning signs of dementia that are often not obvious to doctors and loved ones. Some of the side effects that correspond with stage 2 include:

• Forgetting everyday phrases or names
• Forgetting the location of important objects

Tips For Living Alone With Early

On this page:

• Keep Your Mind and Body Healthy

Learn about ways to cope with changes, prepare for the future, and stay active.

Have you been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimers disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, or a frontotemporal disorder and live alone? Or, do you have mild cognitive impairment ? If so, these tips are for you.

These tips offer ways to help you cope with changes in memory and thinking, prepare for the future, and stay active.

Use the table of contents at the top of this page to go to different sections. At the end of each section, click on the Back to top link to return to the table of contents.

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Signs Of Death In Elderly With Dementia: End Stage

Dementia is a term used to describe the persistent or chronic decline in ones mental processes and this include personality changes, impaired reasoning, and memory loss. The most common form is Alzheimers disease and it accounts for over 70 percent of all the dementia cases.

It is one of the greatest causes of death in the United States with over five million people living with the disease in the country alone. One of the age groups affected by dementia is the seniors. If you are a caregiver, it is important to know the signs of death in elderly with dementia.

Most progressive dementias and Alzheimers disease do not have any cure. The diseases get worse with the passage of time, but the timeline can be very different from one person to the next.

Caring for persons with the diseases can be stressful and very challenging, especially when their personality begins to change and their cognitive function starts to decline. It is possible that the individual will not even recognize the people who are closest and dearest to them.

As the disease progresses, the person needs more and more support from the caregiver and the family. If the person is elderly, the caregiver needs to know about all the signs that the patient may be dying.

You may need to put the patient on hospice so as that he or she can get the appropriate care during such moments. This offers the family and the patient spiritual, physical, and emotional care.

Content:

Tips For A Healthy And Active Lifestyle For People With Dementia

Eating healthy and staying active is good for everyone and is especially important for people with Alzheimers and related dementias. As the disease progresses, finding ways for the person to eat healthy foods and stay active may be increasingly challenging. Here are some tips that may help:

• Consider different activities the person can do to stay active, such as household chores, cooking and baking, exercise, and gardening. Match the activity to what the person can do.
• Help get an activity started or join in to make the activity more fun. People with dementia may lack interest or initiative and can have trouble starting activities. But, if others do the planning, they may join in.
• Add music to exercises or activities if it helps motivate the person. Dance to the music if possible.
• Be realistic about how much activity can be done at one time. Several short mini-workouts may be best.
• Take a walk together each day. Exercise is good for caregivers, too!
• Buy a variety of healthy foods, but consider food that is easy to prepare, such as premade salads and single portions.
• Give the person choices about what to eat, for example, Would you like yogurt or cottage cheese?

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Tips For Everyday Care For People With Dementia

Early on in Alzheimers and related dementias, people experience changes in thinking, remembering, and reasoning in a way that affects daily life and activities. Eventually, people with these diseases will need more help with simple, everyday tasks. This may include bathing, grooming, and dressing. It may be upsetting to the person to need help with such personal activities. Here are a few tips to consider early on and as the disease progresses:

• Try to keep a routine, such as bathing, dressing, and eating at the same time each day.
• Help the person write down to-do lists, appointments, and events in a notebook or calendar.
• Plan activities that the person enjoys and try to do them at the same time each day.
• Consider a system or reminders for helping those who must take medications regularly.
• When dressing or bathing, allow the person to do as much as possible.
• Buy loose-fitting, comfortable, easy-to-use clothing, such as clothes with elastic waistbands, fabric fasteners, or large zipper pulls instead of shoelaces, buttons, or buckles.
• Use a sturdy shower chair to support a person who is unsteady and to prevent falls. You can buy shower chairs at drug stores and medical supply stores.
• Be gentle and respectful. Tell the person what you are going to do, step by step while you help them bathe or get dressed.
• Serve meals in a consistent, familiar place and give the person enough time to eat.