Alzheimer’s dementia will take the following stages.
Like a baby increases things that he or she can do one by one, the dementia patient loses things that he or she can do. Like the babies have individual differences, the progress of dementia has individual differences and the progress of dementia vary by individual and it can be delayed by surrounding environments or involvements.
① Previous stage of dementia
Even though the indication of Alzheimer’s in the brain, cognitive capacity is normal and they have no difficulty in daily life.
② Mild Cognitive Impairment
Previous stage of onset of dementia and although the part of cognitive function has started to have or con problem, it does not hinder daily life. If they receive the adequate treatment at MCI stage, it delays the lowering the cognitive function or onset of dementia.
③ Mild Cognitive decline
Early stage of Alzheimer’s and the symptom gradually appears and a person close to him does not recognize the difference. The first person who realizes the unusual is himself or herself and there may occur the anxiety or depression by receiving a shock to the fact and feeling stress.
④ Moderate Cognitive Functional Decline
It can be diagnosed early stage of Alzheimer’s. Persons close to him or her will recognize the lowering the memory or consciousness. Communication can be done usually, but it increases things that cannot do in daily life. In Hasegawa scale, the mental calculation such as “ subtract 7 from 100 “ cannot be done or it is difficult to manage money. Those make them not to want to communicate with others.
⑤ Slightly Severe Cognitive Functional Decline
They cannot remember their own address or phone number and the name of school that they had graduated from. They start to confuse about the place and date or days of the week. They cannot simple calculate such as gradual subtraction of 2 from 20. Disorientation may occur such as they wear half sleeves in the middle of winter or wear heavily in the mid summer.
⑥ Severe Cognitive Functional Decline
They cannot recognize the recent incidents or surrounding environments. They have difficulties in daily life by themselves such as they don’t understand to flush toilet or the location or need bathing assistance. They may roam around and be lost, their family have a lot of burden. They become suspicious as if they have changed their characters and increase hallucination, delusion and aggressive behaviors. But they still remember their names correctly and family members’ faces even though they may forger their names occasionally.
⑦ Very Severe Cognitive Functional Decline
They need care for the most of daily life such as taking food, toilet, bath or changing clothes. It is very difficult to care by family members only. They cannot recognize the face of spouse who have lived together for a long time or children and they become nonreavtive and lose their expressions. They need the care when they sit down and sometimes they cannot hold head straight. Gradually they become bedridden and may have dysphagia, stiffening of the muscle and abnormal reflection reaction.
