Patient's generally live an average of 8 years after diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. However, some patients live only 3 years, and some live 20 years or longer. Therefore, in discussing Alzheimer's Disease, it is helpful to group the symptoms into stages that can be used to categorize the patient prognosis, rather than how long the patient has had Alzheimer's Disease.
The following is one such example of Alzheimer's staging.
Stage 1:
No impairment (normal function)
Stage 2:
Very mild cognitive decline. At this stage, no one but the individual is aware of memory lapses (i.e. forgetting names of familiar words or phrases). This may be normal age related symptoms, or the beginning signs of Alzheimer's disease.
Stage 3:
Mild cognitive decline. at this stage, others start to notice memory lapses. These symptoms may be discernable in medical testing or interviews.
Along with forgetting familiar names, and misplacing objects, the individual is starting to have performance problems which are noticeable to others, and can't retain any information after reading the list, paragraph, news item, etc..
Stage 4:
Moderate cognitive decline. This stage is also called mild or early-stage Alzheimer's Disease. The person has decreased knowledge of current events, decreased ability to perform social activities of daily living, inability to perform select arithmetic tasks, reduced ability to remember items from one's past that were at one time very familiar, and a social withdrawal from others is seen.
Stage 5:
Moderately severe cognitive decline or mid-stage Alzheimer's disease.
At this stage, the person loses the ability to perform simple activities of daily living, becomes disoriented, and forgets important details such as their address or phone number. They continue to know their own names, and those of family members.
Stage 6:
Severe cognitive decline. The person usually needs help with almost all functions of daily living. They also start to have significant personality changes such as delusions, hallucinations and paranoia. Occasionally they forget names of family members, although they recognize familiar faces. The person loses awareness of their surroundings Incontinence of urine and stool become problematic. Sleep cycles become disturbed and erratic. The patient also starts to wander during this stage of the illness.
Stage 7:
Very severe cognitive decline: The person is now in late-stage Alzheimer's disease. They no longer can speak, move, or respond to their environment. Complete assistance is required with all activities of daily living. Reflexes become more abnormal and swallowing is impaired.
For more information about the stage of Alzheimer's Disease, please refer to the Alzheimer Organization's website.
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