People with Alzheimer’s should take dementia medications every day and stimulate their brain in different ways.Therefore, it is recommended that you be accompanied by a caregiver or family member, as being accompanied facilitates the maintenance of the necessary care and slows the progression of memory loss.
In addition, the caregiver should help the elderly with daily tasks, such as eating, washing, or dressing, for example, as these activities may be neglected by the characteristics of the disease.
- The Alzheimer’s patient should take daily medications for dementia.
- Such as donepzil or memantine.
- Which help slow disease progression and control behaviors such as agitation and aggression.
- However.
- It can be difficult for the patient to take the drug alone.
- As they can forget and therefore the caregiver should always be careful to ensure that the drug is ingested at the times indicated by the doctor.
However, it is also common for the person with Alzheimer’s not to want to take the pills, a good advice is to knead and mix the remedies with yogurt or soup, for example.
Learn more about the major medications used to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Brain function training should be done daily to stimulate memory, language, counseling and patient care, and individual or group activities may be performed with a nurse or occupational therapist.
The purpose of activities, such as completing a puzzle, looking at old photos, or reading the newspaper, for example, is to stimulate the brain to function properly, for the most part, by helping to remember moments, keep talking, do small tasks, and recognize others and yourself.
In addition, it is essential to enhance the patient’s orientation, having an updated calendar on the wall of the house, for example, or informing them several times a day about their name, date or season.
See also a list of exercises that help stimulate the brain
Alzheimer’s disease reduces a person’s mobility, increasing difficulty walking and maintaining balance, making it impossible to perform daily autonomous activities, such as walking or lying down.
Thus, physical activity has several benefits for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, such as:
You should do physical activity every day, such as walking or aquagym for at least 30 minutes each day.In addition, depending on the severity of the disease, physiotherapy sessions may be necessary to maintain quality of life.Understand what is done during Alzheimer’s physiotherapy, sessions.
The Alzheimer’s sufferer should be in contact with friends and family to avoid isolation and loneliness, which results in greater loss of cognitive abilities, so it is important to go to the bakery, walk around the garden or be present at family birthdays, chat and interact.
However, it is important to be in quiet places, as noise can increase the level of confusion and make the person more agitated or aggressive.
The Alzheimer’s patient has an increased risk of falls from medication use and loss of balance and therefore their home must be spacious and there should be no objects in the hallways.
In addition, the patient must wear closed shoes and comfortable clothing to avoid falls.See all the important tips for adapting the house to avoid falls.
Alzheimer’s patients may not find the words to express themselves, or even understand what they’re being told, they may not follow orders, so it’s important to stay calm when communicating with them.
In addition to Alzheimer’s disease, the patient can hear and see wrong, so it may be necessary to speak up and look at it head-on to hear correctly.
However, the cognitive ability of the Alzheimer’s-affected patient is greatly affected and even if you follow the instructions while speaking, you may not yet understand.
Generally, the patient with Alzheimer’s disease does not identify the dangers and, can be life-threatening and that of others and to minimize the dangers, this is due to:
In addition, it is essential that the patient does not walk alone, having to always leave home accompanied, because the risk of getting lost is very high.
As the disease progresses, it is common for the patient to need hygienic aids, such as bathing, dressing or combing, for example because, in addition to forgetting to do so, he does not recognize the function of objects and how to do so.do every task.
So, in order for the patient to stay clean and comfortable, it is important to help him in his performance, showing him how to do this so that he can repeat it, in addition, it is important to involve him in the tasks, so that this moment does not confuse and generate aggression.More information: How to care for a person in a caring person.
The patient with Alzheimer’s disease loses the ability to cook and gradually loses the ability to eat by hand, in addition to having difficulty swallowing, so the caregiver should:
In addition, it may be necessary to diet indicated by a nutritionist, in order to avoid malnutrition and, in case of problems swallowing, it may be necessary to eat a soft diet.Read more: What to eat when I can’t chew
Aggressiveness is a feature of Alzheimer’s disease, manifested in verbal threats, physical violence, and destruction of objects.
Assault usually occurs because the patient does not understand orders, does not recognize people and sometimes because he is frustrated when he realizes the loss of his abilities and, at this time, the caregiver should remain calm, seeking:
Usually, moments of aggression are fast and fleeting and usually The Alzheimer’s sufferer does not remember the event.
Learn more about this disease, how to prevent it, and how to care for the person with Alzheimer’s: