- Introduction
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Prevention
-
Caregiving
- Coping with Emotional Changes
- Coping with Memory Loss
- Costs and Insurance
- Creating a Daily Routine
- Exercise
- Health and Wellbeing of the Caregiver
- Home Safety Adjustments
- Mental Exercises
- Respite Care
- Talking to Children about Alzheimer's
- Talking to Friends about Alzheimer's
- Telling Someone They Have Alzheimer's
- Transition to Assisted Living
- Transition to Nursing Home
- Work
- Related Conditions
- Resources
Q: Is decreasing ability to get up and move around a symptom of this disease.
Hi, Landman 3,
Decreasing mobility can be a symptom of Alzheimer's. According to "The 36-Hour Day," dementing illnesses impact multiple parts of the brain, resulting in apraxia (which is when the brain cannot correctly relay the message of what a body part should do). This often starts with the hands and fingers. Eventually, apraxia can have an impact on walking, making them very unsteady, causing the person to need a handrain or help in using stairs or stepping off of a curb. In the later stages of Alzheimer's, a person can suffer extensive loss of muscle coordination.
Hope this helps. Let us know if you have other questions.
Dorian
What Dorian said is true. Also the staging means a lot in terms of the moving ability. My father-in-law now has trouble walking without a cane. He is slower walking and slow in getting up from his couch after a long day/evening. He is 88 and has stage 6 of AD. When he had early or moderate Alzheimers (stage 1-5), he was able to walk like before and was not idle (up to mid-2007). One could see visible changes of his movements in late 2007 and 2008 when he got worse. (He was also sick at this time.)
I would say it is pretty severe or serious when the patient cannot move much anymore. In the end, he/she would need a wheelchair - that is, they would stop walking in stage 7, the end stage.
Nina
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