Imagine having to comfort a husband or wife after they fail to recognize an adult child or loved one.
Imagine getting a phone call that a partner has been wandering around their hometown for hours, unable to decipher which road leads home.
Imagine, having to pick up a second job to provide around-the-clock care for a parent who can no longer be left alone day or night.
Though never purposely chosen, all of the above could be points on a journey called Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a form of dementia. And according to reports from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), for 5.4 million people every year, this is reality.
“Whether it’s a partner, a father, or a sister- education is key,” said Carol Wynne, support group and early-stage program coordinator for the Alzheimer’s Association. “Initially, people think their whole life is gone because it’s not what they expected whether they’re 55, 65, or 85.”
Unlike diseases such as cancer or kidney failure, there is no “set path” or procedure to rid the body of AD, said Wynne, adding that many caretakers choose to keep others in the dark about the issue because of the stigma attached to dementia and AD.
Though keeping silent may seem preferable in the early stages of any disease, it can quickly zap energy and cause untold amounts of stress for a spouse or child new to the role of caregiver.
“In the beginning things may be easier. The person with memory loss is still bathing, and dressing and toileting independently,” said Wynne. “As the disease progresses, things like driving, showering, and changing clothes become an issue so you need a whole village to help out.”
Wynne says that often caregivers become isolated by their role as friends and even other family members can become distant.
“You can’t do this alone because this is 24/7,” said Wynne. “Getting a break for yourself as a caretaker is huge. It’s not being selfish -it’s preserving self.”
Though some may find it hard to ask for help, stress relief for caregivers is a necessity and can be a one-day trip out of town, or a three-hour getaway to get see a movie, get hair done, or have lunch with a friend.
Caregiver Janet Blount, 55, a certified public accountant, knows first-hand the stressors that come with providing love and support for someone with AD.
“It was devastating, it was frightening, and you felt that you were out of control” said Blount, whose mother—once a school teacher, librarian, and greeter at church—was forced by Alzheimer’s to move into an assisted living facility at age 77.
Blount said her mother first noticed a change when she could no longer engage in witty banter at the church door when greeting members, something she took pride in.
“We would always say ‘Mom everyone has memory problems,’ but one morning she called and she was in tears,” said Blount, recalling a day two years ago. “She said ‘Jan- something is wrong- I don’t know what it is- but something is wrong.’”
“I got my first speeding ticket that day,” Blount said of the frantic 12-hour drive from Baltimore to her mother’s side in Atlanta, Ga.
When she arrived at the usually spotless family home, Blount found it in disarray. So she and her siblings embarked on a journey through home health care. First there was someone with their mother for four hours a day. Then came overnight care at home. Finally, the family decided that it was time to move her into an assisted living facility. Blount now returns to Atlanta once every two to four weeks to check on her mother, while family members who live in Georgia do the same.
Looking back, Blount said she should have paid more attention when her mother said she didn’t feel well.
“If you have an inkling that something is wrong- first, get information,” said Blount, adding that if a diagnoses of dementia is found, a support group should always be apart of the equation.
“Knowing that there are others that are going through what you’re going through just helps so very much.”
“In those support group meetings you find out how other people are handling the challenges of being a caregiver of someone with Alzheimer’s,” said Blount, a member of the Wayland Baptist Church support group at 3200 Garrison Ave.
The group meets every third Saturday of the month and is led by veterans of care-giving for dementia patients.
Caregivers are encouraged to keep a regular exercise routine as it is known to relieve stress. Burdens can also be eased in obtaining a power of attorney (POA) to make binding decisions and handle any legal issues that may arise on behalf of their loved one. Having a will and specifics about when to issue “do not resuscitate,” or DNR, orders to doctors, nurses and emergency responders need to be drafted.
AD is among the top ten health causes of death for an estimated five percent of U.S. residents between the ages of 65 and 74, according to Center for Disease and Prevention Control statistics.
The disease was discovered in 1906 by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, who pinpointed it as an incurable brain disorder. According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a branch of the National Institute s of Health (NIH), AD slowly progresses as cognitive functions and memory slowly as an excess of plaque and tangles interfere with brain function.
Researchers believe Alzheimer’s is a leading cause of dementia, which is defined by the NIA as a loss of behavior abilities, including thinking, remembering, and reasoning, to the point that one cannot carry out routine tasks of everyday life.
The brain eventually begins to shrink as nerve cells die and the hippocampus, the portion of the brain that regulates memory, undergoes irreversible damage. Doctors cannot pinpoint exact triggers of AD, but victims die because the brain slowly shuts the body down.
Talk of natural remedies has become popular in medical journals, blogs, and talk shows.
On his CNN segment, “The Aging Brain,” Dr. Sanjay Gupta has suggested adding turmeric, a spice which fights plaque buildup in the brain, to healthy diets. Physical exercise for also shown to relieve stress and decrease AD risk.
Last year an estimated $183 billion was spent on treatment, a figure expected to top $1.1 trillion by 2050, in 2011 dollars, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
