Complications (1)
- Alzheimer's: Managing sleep problems
Coping and support (3)
- Caregiving: Tips for long-distance caregivers
- Caregiver stress: Tips for taking care of yourself
- Alzheimer's: Planning for the holidays
Definition (1)
- Early-onset Alzheimer's: When symptoms begin before 65
Prevention (1)
- Home safety tips: Preparing for Alzheimer's caregiving
Risk factors (2)
- Diabetes and Alzheimer's linked
- Alzheimer's genes: Are you at risk?
Symptoms (3)
- Memory loss: When to seek help
- Alzheimer's stages: How the disease progresses
- Alzheimer's or depression: Could it be both?
Tests and diagnosis (4)
- Diagnosing Alzheimer's: An interview with a Mayo Clinic specialist
- Sharing Alzheimer's diagnosis: Tips for caregivers
- Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
- see all in Tests and diagnosis
Treatments and drugs (3)
- Alzheimer's: 7 tips for medical visits
- Alzheimer's: Drugs help manage symptoms
- Alzheimer's treatments: What's on the horizon?
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Alzheimer's stages: How the disease progresses
Severe Alzheimer's disease
In the severe, or late, stage of Alzheimer's, mental function continues to decline and the disease has a growing impact on movement and physical capabilities.
In severe Alzheimer's, people generally:
- Lose the ability to communicate coherently. An individual can no longer converse or speak coherently, although he or she may occasionally say words or phrases.
- Require daily assistance with personal care. This includes total assistance with eating, dressing, using the bathroom and all other daily self-care tasks.
- Experience a decline in physical abilities. A person may become unable to walk without assistance, then unable to sit or hold up his or her head without support. Muscles may become rigid and reflexes abnormal. Eventually, a person loses the ability to swallow and to control bladder and bowel functions.
Rate of progression through Alzheimer's stages
The rate of progression for Alzheimer's disease varies widely. Alzheimer's tends to progress more slowly in those who are diagnosed at a younger age and in those who don't have other serious health issues.
On average, people with Alzheimer's disease live four to six years after diagnosis, but some survive as long as 20 years. Pneumonia is a common cause of death because impaired swallowing allows food or beverages to enter the lungs, where they can cause an infection. Other common causes of death include complications from urinary tract infections and falls.
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- Stages of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Association. http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_stages_of_alzheimers.asp. Accessed April 28, 2010.
- Understanding stages and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. National Institute on Aging. http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Publications/stages.htm. Accessed April 28, 2010.
- Stages of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Association Topic Sheet. http://www.alz.org/national/documents/topicsheet_stages.pdf. Accessed April 28, 2010.
- Alexander M, et al. Patient information: Dementia (including Alzheimer disease). http://www.uptodate.com/home/index/html. Accessed April 29, 2010.
- Franssen EH, et al. The neurologic syndrome of severe Alzheimer's disease. Archives of Neurology. 1993;50:1029.
- Auer S, et al. The GDS/FAST staging system. International Psychogeriatics. 1993;9(suppl):167.
- Xie J, et al. Survival times in people with dementia. British Medical Journal. 2008;336:258.
- Voisin T, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of patients with severe Alzheimer's disease. Drugs & Aging. 2009;26:135.
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