Discovering Alzheimer's Disease
Learn about the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, as well as tips for coping with the diagnosis.
Hiding the Signs
Various ways that Alzheimer's disease patients may try to hide their symptoms.
Transcript:
Claudia, Caregiver for Mother, 12 Years, Texas:
My mother is so good at hiding things, and not so much hiding things as she didn't want people to know that she was having problems, so that's why it was harder for me to detect anything.
Dalel, Caregiver for Husband, 5 Years, California:
At first he used to hide behind notes, reminders here and there, but then it became overwhelming, there were like little notes, sticky-notes everywhere, sticky-notes on top of sticky-notes. Missing all kinds of appointments.
Approximately 43% of Alzheimer’s patients are diagnosed in the moderate and severe stages of the disease.
Judith, Caregiver for Mother, 4 Years, Texas:
…So by the time you get to the doctors, she'd go in there and she's so sweet, she's so calm, and they're like, "Oh, she's fine!" "I'm telling you, she's not!" So that's why I started tape-recording her conversations…
Joey, Caregiver for Husband, 12 Years, California:
I felt, well I’m a caregiver, I can take care of him, I can take care of this situation, and I can hide some of these symptoms from family members, because there’s such a terrible stigma to the Alzheimer’s disease, and so I’ve continued to do that.
Judith, Caregiver for Mother, 4 Years, Texas:
'Cause my mother could hold a conversation, and if you ask her what she had for lunch, she'd tell you chicken, and if it was beef or pot roast or anything else, it didn't matter, but she made you believe she had chicken for lunch because that was her story. And it was so convincing, every answer she gave, it didn't matter it was the truth or not, it sounded believable to the question being asked.
Know the Signs.
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