Encourage Fluids Alzheimer's disease (as well as normal aging) sometimes affects people's ability to realize they're thirsty, so it's important to provide frequent opportunities to drink liquids. If swallowing water is difficult, try offering fruit or vegetable juice, soup or yogurt, which are all water-based.
Offer different types of drink throughout the day such as tea, coffee, hot and cold milky drinks, fruit juice or smoothies, soup, squash and water. Make sure the cup or glass is suitable – not too heavy or a difficult shape.
What is Souvenaid? Souvenaid is a nutritional supplement¹ containing nutrients important for the formation of synapses in the brain (the connections between brain cells that are vital for learning and memory). The company that makes Souvenaid recommend that Souvenaid is taken as a once-daily 125ml drink.
An individual's genetic heritage will play a role, as does their general, physical health. People with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, especially if they are poorly controlled, are at risk of a faster deterioration. People who are frail with low immunity and recurrent infections are also vulnerable.
Try to keep a routine, such as bathing, dressing, and eating at the same time each day. Build quiet times into the day, along with activities. Keep well-loved objects and photographs around the house to help the person feel more secure. Try gentle touching, soothing music, reading, or walks.
People with dementia often rely on their routines as a source of comfort. A daily routine helps a person know what to expect. This means that a sudden disruption in routine may cause dementia symptoms to get worse. This is especially true if a person experiences stress.
Engaging in mental or social activities may help to build up your brain's ability to cope with disease, relieve stress and improve your mood. This means doing these activities may help to delay, or even prevent, dementia from developing. Find activities you enjoy that challenge your brain, and do them regularly.
Some of the more common triggers for dementia like a change in environment, having personal space invaded, or being emotionally overwhelmed may be easier to handle if you mentally practice your response before you react.
Introduction: The five-word test (5WT) is a serial verbal memory test with semantic cuing. It is proposed to rapidly evaluate memory of aging people and has previously shown its sensitivity and its specificity in identifying patients with AD.
Other foods that may reduce dementia risk
The MIND diet encourages people to eat green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts, whole grains, fish, poultry, beans, unsaturated fats like olive oil, eggs, and low amounts of red meat.
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals found in bananas help preserve nerve tissue against neurotoxins, which deteriorate nervous tissue when exposed to its substance. This may also help in preventing neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
Difficulty Swallowing
In addition to affecting the brain's ability to recognize thirst, Alzheimer's can also diminish its ability to control mouth and throat muscles, making swallowing difficult. Seniors may be reluctant to drink if they fear choking.
Don't correct, contradict, blame or insist. Reminders are rarely kind. They tell a person how disabled they are – over and over again. People living with dementia say and do normal things for someone with memory impairment.
On average, a person with Alzheimer's lives four to eight years after diagnosis, but can live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease causes a type of dementia that gets worse unusually fast. More common causes of dementia, such as Alzheimer's, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia, typically progress more slowly. Through a process scientists don't yet understand, misfolded prion protein destroys brain cells.
The Mini-Cog test.
A third test, known as the Mini-Cog, takes 2 to 4 minutes to administer and involves asking patients to recall three words after drawing a picture of a clock. If a patient shows no difficulties recalling the words, it is inferred that he or she does not have dementia.
The SAGE test is a 12-question exam that measures cognitive functioning and may help a physician determine whether Alzheimer's is present.
It is quite common for a person with dementia, especially in the later stages, to spend a lot of their time sleeping – both during the day and night. This can sometimes be distressing for the person's family and friends, as they may worry that something is wrong.
The greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer's and other dementias is increasing age, but these disorders are not a normal part of aging. While age increases risk, it is not a direct cause of Alzheimer's. Most individuals with the disease are 65 and older. After age 65, the risk of Alzheimer's doubles every five years.
People in the early stages of dementia may understand their diagnosis and its implications. However, it is important to note that dementia affects every person differently and that symptoms vary between people. In the later stages of dementia, individuals may not be aware of their condition.