What fails in the body?
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The brain fails.
The most common cause of death is pneumonia (infection in the lungs). As the disease progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to chew or swallow properly, and it’s common to inhale bits of food and liquid that “go down the wrong pipe” and eventually cause an infection in the lungs. Alternatively, death comes by dehydration or malnutrition from being unable to drink or eat properly.
More rarely people die of infections related to bedsores, urinary tract infections, or injuring themselves.
One of the greatest cruelties of life is that we know our loved ones their whole lives as these bright, vibrant creatures full of life, and love; triumphs and failures, so many great memories…but Alzheimer’s destroys THEIR memories, as well as YOUR memories of them as bright, hopeful individuals. Don’t let it succeed.
People with severe Alzheimer’s develop apraxia, which is basically an inability to understand how things work or recognize common objects and activities. As a result you will have people either eating and drinking things that aren’t food (I had a patient die from drinking a bottle of dandruff shampoo brought in by their family member), or by failing to recognize food and drinks put in front of them. If left to their own devices (ie not hand fed, or eventually tube-fed [please don’t do this to your demented loved ones]), people with severe enough dementia die of complications of dehydration or starvation, or a pneumonia/pneumonitis caused by inhaling vomit or poorly swallowed food/water.
Source: I’m a family doctor who does end of life care.
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