What are the stages of dementia in seniors?
Dementia is a type of brain disorder that often strikes people over the age of sixty-five. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the same thing as Alzheimer’s.
This disease is both degenerative and progressive, and there is no cure for it yet. It is a condition that can rob a person of their brain functions such as memory, language, and reasoning.
In the more advanced stages, an individual might lose the ability to take proper care of themselves or participate in everyday activities. Advanced dementia means the patient will need round the clock assistance and supervision.
A lot of people who develop dementia start off by being forgetful. People tend to overlook this in the initial stages since it is a normal part of the aging process. It’s only when the condition becomes worse that people start to notice.
A lot of dementia cases have been analyzed, and it has been concluded that three actual stages make up a pattern in every dementia case. All symptoms will not be present in every dementia patient, but the disease progresses the same way in most patients.
The three actual stages include;
THE EARLY STAGE
In this juncture, someone with dementia is bound to experience symptoms like forgetfulness, confusion, disorientation, memory loss, and irritability. Since all of these symptoms are also associated with the aging process, diagnosing dementia is often quite difficult.
THE MODERATE STAGE
This step makes it easier to identify the symptoms. It means that during the moderate stage, diagnosing dementia will be quite easy. The symptoms include the inability to remember even recent events. A decline in cognitive abilities. Confusion about the time or where they are. Being unable to identify family members. The inability to do simple such as bathing, eating, and grooming. They may exhibit a high degree of anxiety, frustration, or agitation. They may even start experiencing auditory or visual hallucinations.
THE ADVANCED STAGE
The advanced stage is the stage where the patient needs continuous care. They will no longer communicate or speak in any way. They do not recognize their family members or everyday objects. And they’ll show no response to the people around them.
Other symptoms they might develop include incontinence, random movements, insomnia, mobility issues, extreme memory loss. In this advanced stage, the patient will probably need the services of a skilled nursing facility.