Ralph has a disease that is progressive; a degenerative disease that has attacked his brain and has resulted in impaired memory, thinking, and behavior. Ralph is one of more than 100,000 that die from Alzheimer's disease annually, which makes it the fourth leading cause of death in adults, after heart disease, cancer, and stroke. AD (Alzheimer's disease) is a slow progressive form of dementia, which is a progressive, acquired impairment of intellectual functions. Ralph will experience a change in language, decision-making ability, judgment, attention, and other related areas of basic functions and personality. It is difficult to place a patient with Alzheimer's disease in a specific stage; however, Ralph's symptoms seem to progress in a recognizable pattern and progress in this manner. His thinking ability, function, and memory loss are an inevitable part of this disease. There are three stages to AD that provide the framework for understanding this disease. It is important to remember they are not uniform in every patient and the stages overlap. The following, are the three stages to the death of Ralph's mind.
In the first stage Ralph could take two to four years leading up to and including diagnosis. In the first stage his memory loss begins. He forgets what he is doing, where he was going, or how to get there. There is a change in his mood or personality. Ralph is loosing his zest for life, he has become anxious about his symptoms, and he has begun to avoid others. His basic tasks have become more difficult. He forgets which bills to pay, his children's phone numbers. He has forgotten where church is, what it is, or where he has parked his car. This first stage of symptoms is often mistaken as part of aging. Who doesn't forget things? But these are the beginning signs of AD and Ralph's route on the downward spiral. This is the first stage to the death of Ralph's mind.
The second stage will be his longest, which are...