Later Stages Of Alzheimer’s

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.

Late Stage Alzheimer’s Disease

The late stage of Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by:

• Inability to sit, stand, walk, eat, swallow, or care for themselves
• Bladder or bowel incontinence
• Skin infections
• Difficulty with conversations, although the person may be able to say a few words or phrases
• Loss of awareness of their surroundings

Alzheimers disease destroys peoples brain cells, resulting in significant mental and physical impairment. This condition eventually affects a persons ability to think, move, function, and communicate. The person becomes extremely vulnerable to infections such as pneumonia, because their inability to swallow can cause food or liquid to enter their lungs.

Over time, the person may become bedridden and require full-time care. Family members may consider hospice services to help care for the person and ensure their comfort in the final stages.

When Should I Ask For Support

Supporting people with dementia at the end of their life requires a team approach. Often, there will be many people involved in the persons care at the end of their life. Good communication and information sharing helps to ensure the person receives the care they need.

If youre unsure about anything or have any concerns seek advice from a colleague, manager or another health care professional.

There may be certain professionals who can advise on specific issues. These may include a GP, district nurses, social workers, other care staff and specialists.

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How Does Dementia Reduce Life Expectancy

Dementia reduces life expectancy in two ways.

First, some of the diseases that are closely linked to Alzheimers disease and vascular dementia, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease can mean a lower life expectancy. For example, vascular dementia is closely linked to heart disease and stroke. A person with vascular dementia is at risk of dying at any stage of dementia, from one of these.

The other way that dementia reduces life expectancy is through the effects of severe disease.

These all make them much more likely to develop other medical problems that can lead to death, such as infections or cardiovascular problems .

This is why the later stage of dementia is often the shortest.

A person with dementia can also die at any stage from another condition not closely related to their dementia. Cancer and lung disease are common examples.

Stage : Mild Dementia

At this stage, individuals may start to become socially withdrawn and show changes in personality and mood. Denial of symptoms as a defense mechanism is commonly seen in stage 4. Behaviors to look for include:

• Difficulty remembering things about one’s personal history
• Difficulty recognizing faces and people

In stage 4 dementia, individuals have no trouble recognizing familiar faces or traveling to familiar locations. However, patients in this stage will often avoid challenging situations in order to hide symptoms or prevent stress or anxiety.

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When The Person With Alzheimers Can’t Move

During the later stages of Alzheimers disease, a person may lose the ability to move and spend much of his or her time in a bed or chair. This lack of movement can cause problems such as pressure sores or bedsores, and stiffness of the arms, hands, and legs.

If the person with Alzheimers cannot move around on his or her own, contact a home health aide, physical therapist, or nurse for help. These professionals can show you how to move the person safely, such as changing positions in bed or in a chair.

A physical therapist can also show you how to move the person’s body joints using range-of-motion exercises. During these exercises, you hold the person’s arms or legs, one at a time, and move and bend it several times a day. Movement prevents stiffness of the arms, hands, and legs. It also prevents pressure sores or bedsores.

To make the person more comfortable:

To keep from hurting yourself when moving someone with Alzheimer’s disease:

Stage : Very Severe Decline

Many basic abilities in a person with Alzheimer’s, such as eating, walking, and sitting up, fade during this period. You can stay involved by feeding your loved one with soft, easy-to-swallow food, helping them use a spoon, and making sure they drink. This is important, as many people at this stage can no longer tell when they’re thirsty.

In this stage, people with Alzheimer’s disease need a lot of help from caregivers. Many families find that, as much as they may want to, they can no longer take care of their loved one at home. If thatâs you, look into facilities such as nursing homes that provide professional care day and night.

When someone nears the end of their life, hospice may be a good option. That doesn’t necessarily mean moving them to another location. Hospice care can happen anywhere. Itâs a team approach that focuses on comfort, pain management and other medical needs, emotional concerns, and spiritual support for the person and their family.

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Making End Of Life Decisions

When individuals with Alzheimer’s disease approach the end of life, caregivers and their families must make difficult decisions regarding their care. Ultimately, any end-of-life decisions made on the individuals’ behalf should respect their values and wishes and maintain their comfort and dignity.

Honoring the Person’s WishesIndividuals with Alzheimer’s disease have the legal right to limit, withdraw, or refuse medical or life-sustaining treatments. These decisions are usually expressed through advance directives legal documents that indicate the type of medical care a person wants to receive once he or she can no longer make or express these decisions due to incapacity.

Two common forms of advance directives are a Health Care Proxy and a durable power of attorney.

Ideally, advance directive documents should have been completed while the person with Alzheimer’s still had the mental capacity to make decisions. If there are no advance directives in place, a family must be prepared to make decisions consistent with what they believe the person’s wishes would have been in combination with his or her best interests. Typically, residential care facilities and hospitals have ethics committees that can facilitate the decision-making process if there is a conflict between family members or with health care providers.

To help ensure care decisions are guided by your loved one’s advance directives, inform others about them and be active in all medical decision making.

How To Care For Someone With Dementia

Dementia can be a difficult time for family members and friends. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services recommends various tips and suggestions to those caring for loved ones with dementia.

• Aim to maintain a regular routine with the person who has dementia. This can include bathing, eating, and dressing at the same time each day.
• Plan and encourage the person to do activities they enjoy, such as dancing or another exercise.
• Help the person maintain their independence and feel in control of their daily activities by using to-do lists, notebooks, and calendars to organize events and appointments.
• Allow the person to feel as in charge as possible when doing activities with them.
• Aim to be consistent and familiar at all times, such as when doing activities.
• Avoid clothing with buttons, belts, and shoelaces opt for zips and elastic waistbands instead.
• Respect their personal space and allow them as much control over their life as possible.
• Surround them with familiar objects and photographs that make them feel secure.
• Listen to concerns and frustrations without questioning or dismissing them.
• Safety-proof their living area by removing rugs they may trip over or putting away chemicals they may mistake for something else.

End-of-life care, also known as palliative care, aims to help the person with dementia feel as comfortable as possible during the later stages of the disease. It may last a few days or several years.

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What Is The Life Expectancy For Later Stage Dementia

A person with later stage dementia often deteriorates slowly over many months. They gradually become more frail, and will need more help with everyday activities such as eating, dressing, washing and using the toilet. People may experience weight loss, as swallowing and chewing become more difficult.

A person with later stage dementia may also have symptoms that suggest they are close to death, but continue to live with these symptoms for many months. This can make it difficult for the person and their family to plan for the end of life. It also makes it difficult for those supporting them professionally.

For more information on supporting someone with later stage dementia, see Alzheimers Society factsheet, The later stages of dementia .

Stage : Moderately Severe

Those in stage 5 will require greater support in their daily lives, as they find it increasingly more difficult to conduct routine daily activities and self-care. Typically this stage lasts about 1.5 years, and some of the symptoms include having major memory deficiencies, forgetting details like where they live or their phone number, needing help with ADLs , and not knowing the time, date, or location.

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Symptoms Of Later Stage Alzheimers

Symptoms of later stage Alzheimers can vary greatly, and over time, the symptoms increase in severity and frequency, requiring a more intensive level of care. In middle-stage, or moderate Alzheimers, a person may have trouble performing basic tasks, but can still remember parts of their lives, especially the distant past. As the persons disease progresses, however, this declines, and in late-stage Alzheimers disease, extensive help is needed. At this point, moving to a nursing facility may be an option to increase the individuals safety and provide round the clock medical attention.

Behavior symptoms of later stages can include1,2:

• Delusions, hallucinations, or paranoia

In late-stage Alzheimers disease, an individual loses the ability to have a conversation and interact with others, and intensive, extensive help is needed with everyday activities. Walking, talking, moving, swallowing, and sitting may all become difficult.

Stage : Middle Dementia

Stage 6 is where dementia progresses further, and people will experience greater mental deterioration and diminishing physical ability. The average duration of stage 5 is 2.5 years and some symptoms include forgetting the names of family members, forgetting both recent and major events of the past, and difficulty in speaking.

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What Are The Average Life Expectancy Figures For The Most Common Types Of Dementia

The average life expectancy figures for the most common types of dementia are as follows:

• Alzheimers disease around eight to 10 years. Life expectancy is less if the person is diagnosed in their 80s or 90s. A few people with Alzheimers live for longer, sometimes for 15 or even 20 years.
• Vascular dementia around five years. This is lower than the average for Alzheimers mostly because someone with vascular dementia is more likely to die from a stroke or heart attack than from the dementia itself.
• Dementia with Lewy bodies about six years. This is slightly less than the average for Alzheimers disease. The physical symptoms of DLB increase a persons risk of falls and infections.
• Frontotemporal dementia about six to eight years. If a person has FTD mixed with motor neurone disease a movement disorder, their dementia tends to progress much quicker. Life expectancy for people who have both conditions is on average about two to three years after diagnosis.

To find out about the support available to someone at the end of their life, and to their carers, family and friends, see our End of life care information.

You can also call Alzheimers Society on 0333 150 3456 for personalised advice and support on living well with dementia, at any stage.

Dementia Connect support lineDementia Connect support line.

Stage : Very Severe Cognitive Decline

This severe late stage of AD is the sad time when a patients speech becomes unrecognizable, urinary and bowel incontinence set in, eating unassisted is difficult, if not impossible, and swallowing can be impaired . Seniors in the advanced stage usually need assistance and support with walking, sitting, standing up and transfers. If a patient is able to stand up at this stage, it is likely that they are very unsteady on their feet. They should be closely monitored as falls can be a dangerous complication. A dementia patients needs become so great in these later stages that it is vital for caregivers to seek out assistance, either in the form of in-home care, a memory care facility or even hospice care.

Family caregivers often become frantic when their loved ones refuse to eat later on in the disease. There is little we can do to ameliorate their symptoms, so we resort to providing food as a way of offering comfort and showing we care. However, this can be risky as the patient becomes frailer. Dysphagia can easily result in aspiration of food particles and saliva into the lungs, which may develop into pneumoniaa dangerous and often deadly infection. As neurological damage progresses, patients may not know what to do with food that is put in their mouths or be able to coordinate the complex movements involved in chewing and swallowing. Those at the end of life may refuse to eat altogether because their organs are shutting down and can no longer process food.

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Preventing Dementia: What The Research Shows

If dementia runs in your family and you’re worried about how it may affect you, the good news is, research shows several preventative steps you can take at home in order to significantly reduce the risks and chances of getting dementia. Some of these include:

Exercise and Stay Fit

Activities like walking, gardening, swimming can make all the difference. Exercising is good for the heart and blood circulation and keeps your mind and body healthy.

Exercise Your Brain

One of the best ways of keeping dementia at bay is keeping your mind sharp and active, which is why puzzles like sudoku, quizzes, learning a new language, or simply reading to expand your knowledge base are all highly recommended.

Cut Back on Bad Habits

If you haven’t done so already, give up smoking and cut back on alcohol and caffeine and eat as healthy as you can. The food you eat fuels your body and impacts every inch of you, so make sure you’re only putting good things in there. Smoking, alcohol, and drugs can also cause other illnesses and health complications.

While there is no way of preventing dementia with certainty, these are just some little changes you can make and things you can do to improve your overall health and hopefully prevent dementia.

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Keep The Personal Connection

Comfort your loved one with a gentle touch. Speak soothingly. Keep him stimulated with music, videos, looking out the window or going into the garden, reading to him, and reminiscing. Encourage interaction with others.

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Was Barbara Walters Sick Her Struggle With Late

Sonam Peldon

When Barbara Walters became the co-host of NBCs Today show in 1974, she made history as the first woman to co-host a television program in the male-dominated broadcast industry. Two years later, she was also the first woman to co-anchor a network evening news program for her work on ABC Evening News.

Walters was, undoubtedly, a trailblazer in the field of television journalism. While widely respected and known for her hard-hitting interviews with prominent world leaders and celebrities, Walters was also a polarizing figure for that very interview style. On the evening of December 30, 2022, she passed away at 93 years old in her home in Manhattan, New York.

Mild Impairment Or Decline

The symptoms of Alzheimers are less clear during stage 3. While the entire stage lasts about 7 years, the symptoms will slowly become clearer over a period of 2 to 4 years. Only people close to someone in this stage may notice the symptoms. Work quality will decline, and they may have trouble learning new skills.

Other examples of stage 3 symptoms and signs include:

• getting lost even when traveling a familiar route
• finding it hard to remember the right words or names
• being unable to remember what you just read
• not remembering new names or people
• misplacing or losing a valuable object

A doctor or clinician may also have to conduct a more intense interview than usual to discover cases of memory loss.

Caregiver support: At this stage, someone with Alzheimers may need counseling, especially if they have complex job responsibilities. They may experience mild to moderate anxiety and denial.

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Stage : Severe Cognitive Decline

This moderately severe mid-stage is where forgetfulness becomes the least problematic symptom. Instead, significant personality changes and troublesome dementia behaviors begin to take center stage. That sweet person you used to know may suddenly become combative, volatile and possibly violent at times. The Alzheimers Association says that at this stage, people lose most awareness of recent experiences as well as their surroundings.

Individuals in this stage can be very inventive when trying to outwit their caregivers. They are also prone to wandering, so providing constant supervision to keep them safe is an ongoing challenge. Astonishingly, patients may find ways to undo several complicated locks on doors or start a supposedly disabled car. Family members sometimes install an alarm system that is meant to alert homeowners if someone is breaking in but instead use it to keep track of whether their loved one is trying to elope.

Patients in this stage often do not remember their own histories and can forget the names of people they love . They need help dressing and toileting. Normal sleep/wake cycles may give way to wandering and agitation all night long. Lack of sleep further compounds memory, mood and emotional symptoms, creating an exhausting positive feedback loop. Unfortunately, this means that family caregivers sleep habits and patience suffer as well.