FL: ADRD for Nursing Homes, Adult Day Care, and Hospice, 1 unitPage 3 of 9

1. Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD)

In this course we will discuss dementia. We will explain how dementia affects the brain. We will discuss how Alzheimer’s disease differs from other types of dementia. We will go over behaviors you will see in people with mild, moderate, and severe dementia. Finally, we will discuss communication issues you might see at different stages of dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia are caused by damage to the brain. The part of the brain that is damaged in dementia is called the cerebrum. The cerebrum fills up most of our skull and is divided into four lobes:

  • Frontal lobes
  • Temporal lobes
  • Parietal lobes
  • Occipital lobes

The cerebrum is what makes us human—it does our thinking, remembering, talking, and understanding. It controls our emotions. It helps us reason and make decisions and helps us tell right from wrong. It also controls our movements, vision, and hearing. Many of these areas of the cerebrum are damaged by dementia.

The Human Brain

image: lobes of the human brain

The four lobes of the cerebrum, plus the cerebellum and the brainstem. Alzheimer’s disease starts in the temporal lobe. Copyright, Zygote Media Group, Inc. Used with permission.

Our brain has two other important parts: the cerebellum and the brainstem. Touch the back of your head just above your neck. The cerebellum is right there. It controls coordination and balance.

orientation of the cerebellum and brainstem

The cerebellum and brainstem are at the back of your head below the cerebrum.

Now move your hand a little down and stop before your get to your spine. The brainstem is right there—at the back of the head, above your spine. It connects the brain to the spinal cord. The brainstem oversees automatic things like breathing, digestion, heart rate, and blood pressure. The cerebellum and the brainstem are not affected by dementia.

What Is Dementia?

Dementia is a brain disease. It is progressive, meaning it gets worse over time. It is a terminal illness, meaning it will eventually lead to death. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common kind of dementia.

AD begins in the area of the brain that makes new memories. That’s why someone with AD forgets something that happened just a moment ago.

Other types of dementia begin in areas of the brain involved with thinking and reasoning. Although dementia can start in one part of the brain, eventually it will affect the entire brain.

Emotions are also affected when someone gets dementia. That’s why someone with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia sometimes has difficulty controlling their emotions.

When someone has dementia their thinking becomes less clear. Decisions are more difficult and safety awareness declines. People also get tired more easily. Eventually, people with dementia lose the ability to take care of themselves.

For people between the ages of 65 and 75, only about 5% will get any sort of dementia. For people over the age of 85, about 40% will experience some form of dementia. Even so, dementia is not considered a normal part of aging.

How Does Dementia Affect the Brain?

Dementia changes the entire brain. In Alzheimer’s disease, nerve cells in the brain die and are replaced by something called plaques and tangles. As the nerve cells die, the brain gets smaller. Over time, the brain shrinks, affecting nearly all its functions.

Normal Brain Contrasted with AD Brain

Normal Brain Contrasted with AD Brain

A view of how Alzheimer’s disease changes the whole brain. Left side: normal brain; right side, a brain damaged by advanced AD. Source: Courtesy of The Alzheimer’s Association. Used with permission.

Normal Age-Related Changes

We all experience changes as we age. Some people become forgetful when they get older. They may forget where they left their keys. They may also take longer to do certain mental tasks. They may not think as quickly as they did when they were younger. These are called age-related changes. This is a normal part of aging—it not dementia.

Age-related changes don’t affect a person’s life very much. Someone with age-related changes can easily do everything in their daily lives—they can prepare their own meals, manage their finances, safely drive a car, go shopping, and use a computer. They understand when they are in danger. They know how to take care of themselves. Even though they might not think or move as fast as when they were young, their thinking is normal—they do not have dementia.

The table below describes some of the differences between someone who is aging normally and someone who has ADRD.

Normal Aging vs. ADRD

Normal aging

AD or other dementia

Occasionally loses keys

Cannot remember what a key does

May not remember names of people they meet

Cannot remember names of spouse and children—don’t remember meeting new people

May get lost driving in a new city

Get lost in own home, forget where they live

Can use logic (for example, if it is dark outside it is night time)

Is not logical (if it is dark outside it could be morning or evening)

Dresses, bathes, feeds self

Cannot remember how to fasten a button, operate appliances, or cook meals

Participates in community activities such as driving, shopping, exercising, and traveling

Cannot independently participate in community activities, shop, or drive

In some older adults, memory problems are a little bit worse than normal age-related changes. This is known as mild cognitive impairment, also called MCI.

Mild cognitive impairment isn’t dementia. You won’t generally see personality changes, just a little more difficulty than is normal with thinking and memory. For some people, mild cognitive impairment gets worse and develops into dementia, but this doesn’t happen with everyone.

What Is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. More than 5 million people in the United States suffer from Alzheimer’s. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and affects women more than men. About two-thirds of Americans caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease are women (Alzheimer’s Association, 2017).

The first thing you will notice in someone with Alzheimer’s disease is that they have trouble making new memories. This is called short-term memory loss. This happens because the part of the brain where new memories are formed becomes damaged by dementia.

Long-ago memories are stored in a part of the brain that is not affected by Alzheimer’s dementia. Especially at first, people can remember and talk about events from earlier times in their lives. As the dementia gets worse and more of the brain is affected, long ago memories might also start to fade.