Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

342 Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness
3. Ability to execute motor activities, assuming intact motor abilities,
sensory function and comprehension of the required task; and
4. Ability to think abstractly, make sound judgments and plan and
carry out complex tasks.
The decline in cognitive abilities must be severe enough to interfere with
daily life. (Alzheimer’s Association, 2008)
There are a number of common causes of dementia, including Alzheimer’s
disease (AD), vascular dementia, Lewy-Body disease, frontotemporal
lobe dementia, Parkinson’s disease, mixed dementia, and others.
Each has its own unique pattern of symptoms and distinguishing biological
markers.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and can
last anywhere from 3 to more than 20 years; the average length of illness
from onset of symptoms to death is 8 to 10 years. Although people with
Alzheimer’s and related disorders experience the disease idiosyncratically,
there are predictable patterns of loss, beginning with mild forgetfulness
and confusion leading to increasing difficulty managing usual activities of
personal care, financial management, verbal and written communication,
and social and occupational functions and ending in total dependence on
someone else for all activities of daily living. The disease is usually described
in four stages: early, middle, late, and terminal.
The statistics and projections regarding the prevalence and incidence
of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States and the world are alarming.
According to the 2009 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures (Alzheimer’s
Association, 2009), every 70 seconds someone in the United States will
develop Alzheimer’s disease. There are an estimated 5.3 million Americans
who have the disease, and that number is projected to increase to
approximately 16 million by mid-century. Age is the greatest risk factor;
50% of those aged 85 years and over have Alzheimer’s or a related dementia.
Ten million Baby Boomers are expected to develop AD, with an
additional 4 million developing other dementias, if the progression of the
disease is not stopped.
Internationally, the numbers are significant and growing. According
to Alzheimer’s Disease International (2009), there are an estimated
30 million people in the world affected by the disease; that number is
expected to grow to 100 million by 2050. India and China, with their
large populations, are facing a sizable increase in the numbers of persons
with AD.
There is no medical cure for AD at this time. There are four drugs approved
by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of