The abilities of someone with Alzheimer's disease can fluctuate from day to day, or hour to hour, which makes the caregiver's job all the more difficult. Often, the person's abilities wax and wane for the same reasons that a healthy person's abilities fluctuate: fatigue, anxiety, discomfort, or medications.
Equally confusing may be a seeming inconsistency in an individual's abilities. He or she may be able to perform a complex task, but not a simple one. Family members may suspect the person is not trying hard enough or is being deliberately uncooperative when, in fact, the uneven loss of abilities is explained by the disease process itself.
Some techniques can improve the quality of life for both patient and caregiver. For example, by breaking an activity into simple steps and talking the person through it one step at a time, you can turn a complicated task such as getting dressed into a manageable one.
The abilities of someone with Alzheimer's disease can fluctuate
from day to day, or hour to hour, which makes the caregiver's job
all the more difficult. Often, the person's abilities wax and wane
for the same reasons that a healthy person's...
More
Dr. John Growdon answered:The abilities of someone with Alzheimer's disease can fluctuate from day to day, or hour to hour, which makes the caregiver's job all the more difficult. Often, the person's abilities wax and wane for the same reasons that a healthy person's abilities fluctuate: fatigue, anxiety, discomfort, or medications.
