Index
- Alzheimer's disease and eating disorders, what to do?
- Weight loss a symptom of Alzheimer's disease
- Alzheimer's disease and eating disorders, what's the relationship?
- Causes of undernutrition in Alzheimer's patients
- How to prevent nutritional problems in the patient?
Alzheimer's disease and eating disorders, what to do?
As the body ages, certain pathologies become more pronounced and others appear. In general, the elderly are prone to diseases related to altered neurons. These are often dementia diseases that end up making the patient completely dependent. Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common of these diseases. It is characterized by the progressive loss of memory and sense of orientation. Alzheimer's patients also suffer from weight loss. In what follows, the relationship between Alzheimer's disease and eating disorders will be discussed.
Weight loss a symptom of Alzheimer's disease
Usually, when we talk about Alzheimer's disease, we immediately think of a person who is losing their memory as well as someone who is lost in time and space. But apart from these cognitive symptoms, which are very characteristic of the disease, others also occur during the development of the disease. This is the case of weight loss. Scientists have indeed been able to demonstrate the existence of a relationship between cognitive disorders and undernutrition. This is why weight loss has also become a very characteristic symptom of this dementia.
It was Aloïs Alzheimer himself who noticed that the weight of patients decreases progressively as the disease progresses. This weight loss, although completely natural in the elderly, is significantly greater than that of seniors who do not suffer from any cognitive impairment. Studies have even been able to highlight the fact that this weight loss occurs well before the first dementia symptoms of Alzheimer's disease occur. And once the disease breaks out, almost half of the patients are affected by this noticeable weight loss.
Alzheimer's disease and eating disorders, what's the relationship?
Weight loss related to eating disorders during Alzheimer's disease is a very common situation. It appears very early and sometimes even before the diagnosis is made. As a reminder, you should be aware that weight loss in excess of 4% of the initial weight is considered pathological and is considered a potential risk of mortality in Alzheimer's patients.
In fact, the eating disorders observed during Alzheimer's disease would not be the result of increased caloric expenditure. In fact, scientists suspect an alteration in the part of the brain responsible for regulating appetite. In addition, personality disorders that occur throughout the course of the disease may also influence the way people eat. In concrete terms, it may happen that the patient thinks he or she has already eaten when in fact he or she has not. It also sometimes happens that the patient simply refuses to eat and just sits at the table without touching anything. Added to this is the fact that people with Alzheimer's disease eat very slowly and are distracted very easily.
In addition to this, it should be remembered that this neurodegenerative pathology also influences taste and smell by modifying them. This can disturb the patient and cause eating disorders. Ultimately, the patient may be subject to protein-energy malnutrition or anorexia. He then becomes very fragile and can easily be prone to infections. The risk of falls also becomes very high as a result of various eating disorders.
Causes of undernutrition in Alzheimer's patients
Several factors are implicated when it comes to the origin of undernutrition in Alzheimer's disease. But to summarize them, below are the 5 main causes of eating disorders related to Alzheimer's disease:
- Agnosia: this corresponds to the difficulty that the patient has to recognize food and its universe.
- Amnesia: this loss of memory often leads the patient to think that he or she has already eaten.
- Attention: Attention problems cause the patient to be unable to concentrate properly during the This means that the patient does not eat properly.
- Apraxia: this difficulty relates to the inability of the patient to use cutlery.
- Aphasia: all the difficulties related to the ability to express one's needs.
How to prevent nutritional problems in the patient?
It is thus established that weight loss is inherent to Alzheimer's disease. But to prevent it and ensure that the patient eats properly, there are certain solutions that family and friends can adopt.
- Adapting to the patient's requirements: indeed, this is the best solution since the patient may be subject to mood changes. This means that if he wants to eat standing up, you have to adapt and find a solution so that he can eat standing up.
- Make sure that the patient has good oral hygiene: this does indeed help to promote good nutrition.
- Give him a balanced diet: you must ensure that the patient's diet is varied and balanced. To do this, each meal must contain dairy products, bread and vegetables. He must eat fish, eggs and meat at least once a day. As for water, you can give it to him at will.
