Alzheimer's disease?

My neighbour's wife passed away today. She suffered from Alzheimer's for about 2 years.I don't mean to seem ignorant, I knew it was incurable, but I didn't realise that one could actually die from it? Can anybody tell me how it takes a life, so I can understand better? Serious answers only please, still saddened by the news. Thanks

Yes - I work with Alzheimer's patients. What happens in the Alzheimers patient is that the brain actually shrinks. So remember that really - somewhere in the brain - everything in the body is told to perform. The patient can lose their life that way OR more common is that the patient will simply FORGET how to chew and swallow like I've seen so many times. We like to think that we can only go a few days without food, but that's not true. We can go many, many days without food. But without water we waste away very quickly. These patients will forget how to swallow and chew and they simply pass because of this.

Alzheimer's does more then robs memory loss. it slowly kills your brain of all functions so even the routine things your brain does controlling your breathing , beating of the heart etc, shuts down and there you have it,

Death by Alzheimer's disease, a progressive brain disorder characterized by loss of memory, is usually caused by secondary infections that are common in incapacitated patients. the average length of time between diagnosis and death is eight years, although people can live with the illness 20 years or more. As the disease progresses, patients lose the ability to coordinate basic motor skills such as swallowing, walking, or controlling bladder and bowel. Difficulty swallowing can cause food to be inhaled, which can result in pneumonia. Inability to walk can lead to bedsores. Incontinence can result in bladder infections. These infections become particularly difficult to deal with because Alzheimer's patients are unable to understand and participate in their own treatment. A fall can cause a broken hip, such falls often lead to death because the patient does not have the capacity to follow directions or motivation to try to walk again. Such incapacitation again sets the stage for deadly infections. Doctors say it is possible that an Alzheimer's patient could progress to the point that damage from the disease to the centers of the brain that control breathing could cause death, but patients rarely get that far without an infection setting in. Once a patient is extremely incapacitated, there is little medical motivation to aggressively treat such infections.
I add a link with some interesting details on this subject

http://www.scienceblog.com/
community/older/2002/D/
20024074.html

Hope this helps
matador 89

In the later stages of the disease, deterioration of musculature and mobility, leading to bedfastness, inability to feed oneself, and incontinence, will be seen if death from some external cause (e.g. heart attack or pneumonia) does not intervene. Once identified, the average lifespan of patients living with Alzheimer's disease is approximately 7-10 years, although cases are known where reaching the final stage occurs within 4-5 years or at the other extreme they may survive up to 21 years.

I worked for a leading Professor into cause of Alzheimer's - along with treatment to 'stall or stabilise' the condition. The following link should take you directly to a page from BRACE (a fund raising organisation for people and relatives) - which will explain quite clearly about the deterioration with Alzheimer's. I hope you find it useful.
http://www.alzheimers-brace.org/html/res...

The Professor I worked for is mentioned on this page.

Alzheimer's destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life. Alzheimer鈥檚 gets worse over time, and it is fatal. Today it is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States.

There are 7 stages in an alzheimer's disease.
Stage 1: No impairment
Stage 2: Very mild decline
Stage 3: Mild decline
Stage 4: Moderate decline (mild or early stage)
Stage 5: Moderately severe decline (moderate or mid-stage)
Stage 6: Severe decline (moderately severe or mid-stage)
Stage 7: Very severe decline (severe or late stage)

lets focus on the 7th stage of the disease. This is the final stage of the disease when individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment, the ability to speak and, ultimately, the ability to control movement.

Frequently individuals lose their capacity for recognizable speech, although words or phrases may occasionally be uttered. Individuals need help with eating and toileting and there is general incontinence of urine. Individuals lose the ability to walk without assistance, then the ability to sit without support, the ability to smile, and the ability to hold their head up. Reflexes become abnormal and muscles grow rigid. Swallowing is impaired.

i think what is more fatal is that our reflexes becomes abnormal. if our reflexes are impaired we wont be able to respond immediately. just like in swallowing, if gag reflex is already impaired this can cause a person to aspirate. if a person aspirate, water or foods goes to the lungs and causing further damage to the lungs does making the person unable to breath properly and will lead to death...

Stages and symptoms
Mild 鈥?In the early stage of the disease, patients have a tendency to become less energetic or spontaneous, though changes in their behavior often go unnoticed even by the patients' immediate family. This stage of the disease has also been termed Minor Cognitive Impairment (MCI), when the patient does not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of dementia


Moderate 鈥?As the disease progresses to the middle stage, patients might still be able to perform tasks independently (such as using the bathroom), but may need assistance with more complicated activities (such as paying bills)

.
Severe 鈥?As the disease progresses from the middle to the late stage, patients will not be able to perform even simple tasks independently and will require constant supervision. They become incontinent of bladder and then incontinent of bowel. They will eventually lose the ability to walk and eat without assistance. Language becomes severely disorganized, and then is lost altogether. They may eventually lose the ability to swallow food and fluid, and this can ultimately lead to death. So death doesn't come beause of it but complications.

There is detailed info about this debilitating disease:


http://www.medicinenet.com/alzheimers_di...

If anything, it does take its toll on the caregiver.:

Caregivers should be directed to support services, particularly the Alzheimer's Association (1鈥?00鈥?72鈥?900, www.alz.org/chapter/).

Caring for someone who has Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be stressful and overwhelming. It's important to take care of yourself. Ask for and accept help.

Talk to the doctor. Find out what treatments might help control symptoms or address behavior problems. Find a support group. Others who have "been there" may be able to help and will understand.

People don't die from Alzheimer's. They die of the complications often associated with it. These are things such as Pneumonia, dehydration, or simply the body shutting down