What Do Alzheimer Patients Die From

September 23, 2022

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Other Complications Of Dementia

Do People Die of Dementia? | Dr. Marc

Dementia and pneumonia often go hand in hand. As the ability to properly swallow declines, liquids can tragically end up down the wrong pipe, often leading to infection in the lungs.

Other conditions that may lead to death include heart failure, blood clots, and dehydration. Additionally, individuals with pre-existing health conditions can be at higher risk of death with dementia.

Understanding The Complications Of Dementia: Why Is Dementia Fatal

Did you know that dementia isone of the top causes of death in the U.S.? So, how do people die from dementia, and how does this relate to Alzheimers disease?

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimers disease, you probably have many questions. Youre not alone. Millions of Americans and more around the globe suffer fromAlzheimers disease, the most common form of dementia.

Dementia patients experience a progressive decline in mental abilities, including loss of memory, judgment, and language skills. In its later stages, Alzheimers may affect essential functions such as swallowing or breathing.

In this article, well share the answers to common questions surrounding dementia such as:

Can dementia lead to death?
Does dementia cause death?
What usually causes death in Alzheimers patients?
How many people die from dementia?
How do people die from dementia?

Learning more about dementia and how it can be fatal is a necessary step in helping those suffering. With the right knowledge andspecialized care, those with dementia and Alzheimers can enjoy a better quality of life.

But before we answer the question, Can a person die from dementia? lets first explore what dementia is.

What Are The Warning Signs Of Alzheimers Disease

Symptoms usually develop gradually and worsen over the years. Symptom progression varies from person to person and mostly manifests as forgetfulness in the initial stages.

One or more of the following symptoms may be present in someone with Alzheimer’s disease:

Memory loss that disrupts daily life such as getting lost in a familiar place or repeating questions
Inability to recognize familiar faces
Trouble handling money and paying bills
Difficulty completing basic tasks at home, work, or leisure

You May Like: How Is Frontal Lobe Dementia Diagnosed

How Do You Die From Alzheimers Experts Tackle The Question

What I couldnt find is how someone dies from Alzheimers. What do those complications look like in an Alzheimers patient? What does it mean for the patient and their family?

Those are the questions Jasja De Smedt Kotterman sought answers to at the end of her mothers life, a process she wrote about in the article, What I Wish I Knew Before My Mothers Alzheimers Death.

Although she consulted countless sources and consumed as much information as she could, De Smedt Kotterman was still surprised by the events of her mothers last days. She was searching for an answer to a question many caregivers think about: How do you die from Alzheimers?

Dr. Liz Sampson, M.D., an expert in end-of-life-care, suggests there are a lot of societal misconceptions about death. According to Sampson, television programs often portray death as something that happens instantaneously after an accident or illness, causing people to forget that death is often a process that can take weeks or months.

Because Alzheimers patients may pass away from other causes before reaching the final stages of the disease, Sampson said people do not think about Alzheimers the same way they think about other terminal illnesses.
These misconceptions may cause caregivers to feel unprepared as they witness the drastic changes their loved one goes through during the final stages of Alzheimers.

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.

Also Check: How To Motivate Dementia Patients

Provide Support For Family And Friends

Keep any family or friends informed about what is happening in a gentle, sensitive and supportive way. This will help reassure them that the person is getting the care they need. You could consider signposting them to appropriate services, such as an Admiral Nurse or local Alzheimers Society. It can also help to give them an opportunity to talk about what is happening.

Impact On Families And Carers

In 2019, informal carers spent on average 5 hours per day providing care for people living with dementia. This can be overwhelming . Physical, emotional and financial pressures can cause great stress tofamilies and carers, and support is required from the health, social, financial and legal systems. Fifty percent of the global cost of dementia is attributed to informal care.

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 is not 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 cannot 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.

Icipating In Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials

What is Dementia?

Everybody those with Alzheimers disease or MCI as well as healthy volunteers with or without a family history of Alzheimers may be able to take part in clinical trials and studies. Participants in Alzheimers clinical research help scientists learn how the brain changes in healthy aging and in Alzheimers. Currently, at least 270,000 volunteers are needed to participate in more than 250 active clinical trials and studies that are testing ways to understand, diagnose, treat, and prevent Alzheimers disease.

Volunteering for a clinical trial is one way to help in the fight against Alzheimers. Studies need participants of different ages, sexes, races, and ethnicities to ensure that results are meaningful for many people. To learn more about clinical trials, watch this video from NIH’s National Library of Medicine.

NIA leads the federal governments research efforts on Alzheimers. NIA-supported Alzheimers Disease Research Centers throughout the U.S. conduct a wide range of research, including studies of the causes, diagnosis, and management of the disease. NIA also sponsors the Alzheimers Clinical Trials Consortium, which is designed to accelerate and expand studies and therapies in Alzheimers and related dementias.

To learn more about Alzheimers clinical trials and studies:

Talk to your health care provider about local studies that may be right for you.

Watch videos of participants in Alzheimers disease clinical trials talking about their experiences.

Read Also: Trial Drugs For Alzheimer’s

Being Patient: Although Alzheimers Presents Itself Differently Depending On The Person Are There Signs That Death Is Imminent In The Final Stages Of The Disease

Dr. Liz Sampson: People progress differently, but I think one of the key signs that someone is reaching the end of their life is when they stop wanting to eat and drink.

Whether theyre going to pass away in a week or a month, thats often the person saying, Ive had enough. I dont want this anymore.

It can be very upsetting for carers and relatives, but studies on patients dying from other illnesses show that its not a horrible process, and the last thing you want to do is to start tube feeding people because thats not really shown to prolong life its about quality of life. If someone stops eating and drinking, the memory has become so bad that people dont know what food is anymore, so to them, food in their mouth is like a foreign body. They might spit it out, not want to swallow it or forget how to swallow. When someone reaches that stage, thats a sign that things are probably more imminent. Chest infections or a serious illness can often be a sign as well.

Being Patient: Yes Is It Common For Someone To Be Administered Morphine And To Pass Away Shortly After That Dr Sampson

Dr. Liz Sampson: I think its very difficult to tease out what the morphines used for, which can make people sleepy and sedated, but also more comfortable. Is it the morphone, or is it the fact that the person is dying and thats why theyre not conscious? But theyre comfortable on the morphine. I would say the main goals of caring are to keep someone comfortable and to alleviate distress. It can help them breathe more easily.

Its a very different situation when you have a younger person with cancer who is on a small dose of morphine, but hes up and about and able to talk. But when someones in the very advanced stages of dementia, it could just be that theyre going into the process of dying.

We have this concept of dying from programs like ER and the media that well suddenly clutch our chest and keel over, and that will be it. What we dont see in society nowadays, and what people understood one hundred years ago when more people died at home, is that dying is a process, and it can be a very slow journey over a few days or a week, as our bodys gradually shutting down.

Thats an absolutely normal dying process, but we very rarely see that or talk about that in society in general, not just related to dementia. It could be that thats just whats happening anyway, and the morphine is just alleviating any extra distress thats associated with the dying process.

Whats The Best Way To Care For Someone Whos In Late Stages Of Dementia

The ideal time to plan for late stage care is when the person with dementia can still participate in the decision-making process. However, even if the person with dementia and caregivers communicated clearly while the disease was in early stages, things can change. Symptoms can progress more or less quickly and resources may dwindle.

Here are a few things to keep in mind if you are caring for someone in late stage dementia:

Can People Recover From Dementia

Unfortunately, theres no cure for dementia or Alzheimers disease, though many studies are underway. In the meantime, its essential to understand howto help a loved one who has been diagnosed with dementia.

So, can a person die from dementia? Unfortunately, yes.

However, this doesnt mean that those struggling are without hope or help. Educating yourself about thecomplications of dementia andcauses of death in Alzheimers patients is a significant first step toward helping your loved one live as full a life as possible.

How Many People Die From Dementia

Based onthe most recent research, nearly 6.2 million Americans over 65 suffer from dementia.

In 2019 alone, there were 121,499 deaths recorded as a result of this disease, earning it a top spot in the leading causes of death in Americans over 65.

These stark numbers likely underscore the reality of the issue. Unfortunately, as dementia progresses, people often die from infections or other secondary complications that official reports may not attribute to dementia.

What Are The Symptoms Of Dementia

Each person is unique and will experience dementia in their own way. The different types of dementia tend to affect people differently, especially in the early stages.

A person with dementia will often have cognitive symptoms . They will often have problems with some of the following:

Day-to-day memory difficulty recalling events that happened recently.
Repetition repeating the same question or conversation frequently in a short space of time.
Concentrating, planning or organising difficulties making decisions, solving problems or carrying out a sequence of tasks .
Language difficulties following a conversation or finding the right word for something.
Visuospatial skills problems judging distances and seeing objects in three dimensions.
Orientation losing track of the day or date, or becoming confused about where they are.

Some people have other symptoms including movement problems, hallucinations or behaviour changes.

What Happens In End

In the early stages of dementia, people have memory problems, and in moderate stages, they might have difficulty with relating to other people, relationships, and perhaps their behavior and distress becomes an issue, Liz Sampson, an expert in end-of-life-care and a professor at University College London, told Being Patient. Then as the brain cells die off more quickly, more fundamental parts of the brain become affected the parts of the brain that coordinate movement.

In these later stages, many other physical challenges arise as cells in their brain gradually die off. These dying brain cells affect everything from memory and awareness, to speech and language, to mobility, to the ability to swallow food and water.

As these changes progress, it becomes impossible for a person to live independently, and eventually, many people with Alzheimers die from complications caused by the disease.

Medications To Treat The Underlying Alzheimer’s Disease Process

Watch This Man Take An Alzheimers Test. Would You Pass?

Aducanumab is the first disease-modifying therapy approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimers disease. The medication helps to reduce amyloid deposits in the brain and may help slow the progression of Alzheimers, although it has not yet been shown to affect clinical outcomes such as progression of cognitive decline or dementia. A doctor or specialist will likely perform tests, such as a PET scan or analysis of cerebrospinal fluid, to look for evidence of amyloid plaques and help decide if the treatment is right for the patient.

Aducanumab was approved through the FDAs Accelerated Approval Program. This process requires an additional study after approval to confirm the anticipated clinical benefit. If the follow-up trial fails to verify clinical benefit, the FDA may withdraw approval of the drug. Results of the phase 4 clinical trial for aducanumab are expected to be available by early 2030.

Several other disease-modifying medications are being tested in people with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimers as potential treatments.

What Was My Experience With My Dad

As I have shared in other places , my dad, Jim, had Alzheimerâs for about ten years. In retrospect, his doctors led us to believe that he had been suffering through early stages of the disease before it was recognized for what it was. During that period of uncertainty, I attributed his attitude and behavioral changes to his becoming crotchety and temperamental.

But, most relevantly, he was diagnosed with arterial blockages and colon cancer. We nursed him through a triple bypass operation and a colectomy. I say that to mention this: For his age, my dad was otherwise physically healthy when his Alzheimerâs was finally diagnosed.

When he underwent heart surgery, he was literally at deathâs door, and he could have expired at any moment. But having had the two surgical interventions, he lived through a full progression of the various stages of his dementia.

We noticed the locomotive and speech degeneration that is typical of Alzheimerâs. Indeed, there were several episodes when he developed blood clots, pneumonia, and urinary-tract infections. He contracted a severe respiratory virus at least once and had a gastro-intestinal bug on another occasion. Any of these events could have resulted in his death. And Jim came close to dying during a few of them.

But, he didnât.

He held on. He came back.

He went into hospice care at least five times. And four times recovered enough to go off hospice.

He lasted in this state for about ten days.

This was exasperating news.

Being Patient: Dr Sampson Do Researchers Know How Much Someone Whos Dying From Alzheimers Can Understand When Loved Ones Speak To Them

Dr. Liz Sampson: We know very little about where people are. You can get very hung up thinking about medical things, but at a very basic level, even someone with advanced dementia is aware of the atmosphere around them, so if people are distressed around them, the person will pick up on that. Its about thinking holistically, so they may preserve certain senses.

Their sense of smell may be very well preserved, which is why using aromatherapydespite that theres no real evidence that it helps dementia patientsis comforting. Its helpful being surrounded by nice smells or music, which reach the inner parts of our brain and trigger basic emotional responses in us. Theres good reason to think that the sound of a familiar voice or holding someones hand is going to register with them on some level. For caregivers, it will also help them with their grief.

Also Check: What Is The Difference Between Old Age Forgetfulness And Dementia

Gene Wilder’s Death: How Do People Die From Alzheimer’s

Legendary comedic actor Gene Wilder has died at age 83 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his family announced today. But what exactly does it mean to die from Alzheimer’s?

Although Alzheimer’s disease shortens people’s life spans, it is usually not the direct cause of a person’s death, according to the Alzheimer’s Society, a charity in the United Kingdom for people with dementia. Rather, people die from complications from the illness, such as infections or blood clots.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disease in which abnormal protein deposits build up in the brain, causing brain cells to die. The illness is best known for causing memory loss, but it also has other debilitating effects on the body, and can affect people’s ability to move and eat by themselves. There is no cure for the illness.

Alzheimer’s patients may have difficulty swallowing, and they may inhale food, which can result in aspiration pneumonia, Dr. Marc L. Gordon, chief of neurology at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens, New York, who was not involved in Wilder’s care, told Live Science in a 2014 interview. Pneumonia is listed as the cause of death in as many as two-thirds of deaths of patients with dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Society.

Alzheimer’s patients may also become bedridden, which can increase their risk of fatal blood clots, Gordon said.

Editor’s note: Portions of this article were previously published on LiveScience.

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