Alzheimer's 5: the 7 Stages

Knowing the signs of each stage of dementia can assist in putting in place preventative and even restorative measures

Sep 13, 2023

This article could be seen as depressing. Here's the deal. If you don’t face the problem square on before it happens, no one else will do it for you. The best part is that by working to avoid dementia, you future-proof your old age and increase your likelihood of a long and happy life!

I included links for further reading at the end of this article. Enjoy, and leave a response or comment! - Thanks!

Do a six monthly “SAGE’”self assessment

The best way to recognise any tendency toward mental decline is to do a cognitive assessment. You can also do the ApolloHealth Cq online test (longer and more demanding, but has the benefit that you don’t need the help of a well informed assistant)

The SAGE (Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam) results can have a maximum score of 22. Any score under 17 is considered an indicator of thinking deficiencies that should be checked out by a specialist. A score of 15 or 16 indicates the person might have a mild cognitive impairment or MCI.

The SAGE test is the industry standard test. Everything you need to run a SAGE test is to be found at elderguru.com.

Important: for obvious reasons (like, you may already have mild early stage dementia, or you may feel anxious when you go on to mark your self-test), it’s best to have a friend, spouse or younger relative, (or a health professional) help you with the sitting and marking of the test.

Stage 1: Before Symptoms Appear

Begins 10 or 15 years before people have symptoms.

No symptoms yet but you may be aware of your risk factors and family tendency for Alzheimers.

It is time to do a cognitive assessment and start talking with your loved ones about eventually developing Alzheimers. Because it is never too early to work at being healthy.

Stage 2: Basic Forgetfulness

Your loved one might have memory lapses, including forgetting people’s names or where they left their keys, but they can still drive, work and be social. However, these memory lapses become more frequent. You will probably notice this before your loved one does — and you may be able to get them treatment sooner to slow the progression.

If you’ve already discussed this with your loved ones then you are already on the same page and there is no need for arguments, frustration and denial. It's definitely time to do a cognitive assessment!

Stage 3: Noticeable Memory Difficulties

It’s common to be diagnosed 3 to 4 years into this stage because this is when a person’s daily routine becomes disrupted and daily efficiencies are slipping (take a look at Dr Scharre’s comment on this page).

Common difficulties in this stage go beyond forgetting names and misplacing objects. Your loved one may:

Have trouble remembering recently read material, such as books or magazines
Find remember plans and organizing increasingly difficult
Have more difficulty retrieving a name or word
Experience challenges in social settings or at work

Time to bring in medical advice. Including the advice of Integrative Medicine Doctors who are trained in the tests diagnostic procedures and planning, for Alzheimers’ reversal.

Stage 4: More Than Memory Loss

This stage may last for many years — your loved one will experience major difficulties with memory. They may still remember significant details about their life, such as who they are married to or what state they live in. Their memory of the distant past will usually be significantly better than their memory of day-to-day information, such as what they saw on the news or a conversation from earlier in the day.

Other challenges during this stage include:

Confusion about what day it is and where they are
Increased risk of wandering off or getting lost
Changes in sleep patterns, such as restlessness at night and sleeping during the day
Difficulty choosing appropriate clothing for the weather or the occasion
And possibly feeling suspicious of others, having less interest or feeling depressed.

During this stage, situations that require a lot of thinking, such as being at a social gathering, can be very frustrating, and it’s common to feel moody or withdrawn.

It’s not too late to bring in medical advice. Including the advice of Integrative Medicine Doctors who are trained in Alzheimers’ reversal. However it would have been easier to reverse or arrest the condition if started earlier.

Stage 5: Decreased Independence

Until now, your loved one may have been able to live on their own with no significant challenges. You may have dropped in to check on them every so often, but for the most part, they were able to function without your regular assistance.

In this stage, your loved one will likely have trouble remembering people that are important to them, such as close family and friends. They may struggle with learning new things, and basic tasks like getting dressed might be too much for them.

Emotional changes are also common during this stage, including:

Anxiety
Hallucinations: Seeing things that aren’t there
Delusions: False beliefs that you believe to be true
Paranoia: The feeling that others are against you

It’s not too late to bring in medical advice but management is now difficult for two reasons: (1) Your loved one can’t or won’t willingly comply with the disciplined changes to diet and lifestyle, and the taking of nutritional and natural supplements and (2) there are very few dementure care facilities that are prepared to work with you and your integrative medicine doctor. You now have to work hard to find the right care and nursing help. This will get easier now (August 2023), because a major medical organisation has started to provide integrated Alzheimer’s management

However it would have been easier to reverse or arrest the condition if started earlier.

Stage 6: Severe Symptoms

Communicating becomes difficult during this stage and it now becomes impossible for the sufferer to live on their own and very difficult for their loved one to be their sole caregiver.

Significant personality changes may continue to worsen (see above) and may require psychiatric medicines in addition to the integrative approach that will help reverse signs. But this is not ideal. Note that the integrative approach may work as well as or better, than psychiatric meds - provided you can find a doctor who will work with you. At this stage it is hard to reverse or slow the progression of Alzheimers, and only the most dedicated spouses can - provided they can find sympathetic care facilities and doctors who will help administer appropriate drugs, supplements and dietary modifications - they are distressingly hard to find at the present time refer Joanna Hellmuth article that decries the Bredesen Alzheimer's progra an example of medical gaslighting

Stage 7: Lack of Physical Control

There is now severe mental and physical impairment. You now need intensive care just to stay fed and free from infection and injury.

You now need round-the-clock care for help with walking, sitting and eventually swallowing.

Because of their reduced mobility an Alzheimer’s patient’s body can become vulnerable to infections such as pneumonia. To help avoid infections, you need your teeth and mouth kept clean, and any cuts and scrapes treated immediately.

There comes a time when all must die and we have to be realistic about this.

Don’t let it get that bad without at least a serious try, early on, to halt the disease progression! Don’t let you and your loved ones suffer the regret of not having researched the very real possibility of reversing Alzheimer’s in the early stages!