Dad has Alzheimer's and refuses to eat...help?

My Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimers in January. He refuses to eat a lot of the time. He does eventually eat, but he's wasting away and is down to 140 (he's 5'6).

I'm not interested in people telling me he's preparing to die. Lots of Alzheimer's patients start to OVEReat. I'd like to know how I can get him to eat, if anyone has any suggestions. It seems he just wants to eat pasta, mashed potatoes, or soup.

I can only imagine how difficult this is for you and can only offer some suggestions. First and foremost, if you haven't already, please take your father to his primary care physician for a complete physical and lab work. He or she may have some suggestions for you. Also, if your father is showing any signs of depression, an antidepressant may help to improve his appetite. Third, often simple meals like finger foods or sandwiches may be more appetizing to him...or at least easier for him to eat rather than a full course sit down meal. Finally, it seems that soft foods are more appealing to your father so you might want to try yogurt or a supplemental beverage like Ensure or Boost to provide him with a few more nutrients than he is getting with his current diet. I wish you all the best and good luck.

Alzheimer patients gradually lose part of the sense of smell and subsequently taste.
Make the foods
-tasty as possible
-soft or pureed may be easier to swallow.
-Ask him what he wants
-Use high calorie foods like junk food eg Wendys, Burger King etc who cares about his choelsterol at this time
-use small portions
-feed him many times in a day-remember that he does not remember that he just ate 5 minutes ago. Dont force him to eat-they think like a kid sometimes and the more you force tehm the more rebellious they will be. How about let have dinner and then go do some thing important after dinner (but you are not really going anywhere as he will forget)
-High calorie liquid supplements or maybe a fruit puree drink in the blender
-Extra butter may fatten him up
-Icecream?
-Mash potateos with extra butter and garlic and pepper
-Pasta with cheese and meatballs
-heavy soups like new england clam chowder

My dad has Alzheimer's too. He's about 5'8 and he's down to 140 as well, but he eats an amazing amount of food.
Try adding different things to his pasta sauce and soup if that's all he'll eat--veggies, vitamins, etc. Talk to the doctor whose care he is under for other suggestions.
And think about why you want him to keep living in that condition.