Alzheimer's Disease Analysis
Alzheimer’s disease impacts the lives of millions of Americans every year. This disease is a type of dementia that affects the neurological and physical capabilities of an individual. Alzheimer’s disease does not just affect the patients with it, but also affects the loved ones and caregivers that love and care for those with the disease. Currently no cure for Alzheimer’s exists, but many new and experimental treatment options to help slow the progression of this disease are being researched and tested to ease the pain felt by patients, their loved ones, and their caregivers. Alzheimer’s disease exhibits a variety of symptoms and characteristics. Even with the new treatment options, caregivers and loved ones still have a difficult time coping
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Caregivers experience different problems. The families and caregivers know what the patient was like before the Alzheimer’s developed, which causes sadness and even stress in some cases (Lynch). The caregivers feel as though they need to be subservient to the patient, believing that the patient’s needs are of higher importance than their own. In the Los Angeles Times, Rene Lynch compares the situation caregivers face to the situation of an airplane ride: “On an airplane, when they give you the lecture about the oxygen mask, you're told to put on your own mask first before you help a young child or the elderly or the disabled. And I use that analogy a lot. Caregivers have to take care of themselves first. They are entitled to have their feelings understood and nurtured and discussed.” Nearing the end of a patient’s life, caregivers face another type of pain: guilt. When an Alzheimer’s patient is in the final stage of their disease, they can become unable to speak, function at all, or in some cases even bedridden. This makes some caregivers feel as though death is the only option for the patient, and it burdens the caregiver to even think such a thing (Lynch). Some people may say having a thought like that is terrible to even consider, but in some cases wishing the situation is over is best for both the patient, the family, and the caregiver. The families and loved ones do not want to remember the patient as being incompetent or senile. The patients do have a difficult time coping with Alzheimer’s, but most of the time the caregivers and families have a more emotionally difficult
Caregivers experience different problems. The families and caregivers know what the patient was like before the Alzheimer’s developed, which causes sadness and even stress in some cases (Lynch). The caregivers feel as though they need to be subservient to the patient, believing that the patient’s needs are of higher importance than their own. In the Los Angeles Times, Rene Lynch compares the situation caregivers face to the situation of an airplane ride: “On an airplane, when they give you the lecture about the oxygen mask, you're told to put on your own mask first before you help a young child or the elderly or the disabled. And I use that analogy a lot. Caregivers have to take care of themselves first. They are entitled to have their feelings understood and nurtured and discussed.” Nearing the end of a patient’s life, caregivers face another type of pain: guilt. When an Alzheimer’s patient is in the final stage of their disease, they can become unable to speak, function at all, or in some cases even bedridden. This makes some caregivers feel as though death is the only option for the patient, and it burdens the caregiver to even think such a thing (Lynch). Some people may say having a thought like that is terrible to even consider, but in some cases wishing the situation is over is best for both the patient, the family, and the caregiver. The families and loved ones do not want to remember the patient as being incompetent or senile. The patients do have a difficult time coping with Alzheimer’s, but most of the time the caregivers and families have a more emotionally difficult