Severe dementia due to Alzheimer's disease

In the late stage of the disease, called severe dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, mental function continues to decline, and the disease has a growing impact on movement and physical capabilities.

In late stage severe dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, people generally:

• Lose the ability to communicate coherently. An individual can no longer converse or speak in ways that make sense, although he or she may occasionally say words or phrases.
• Require daily assistance with personal care. This includes total assistance with eating, dressing, using the bathroom and all other daily self-care tasks.
• Experience a decline in physical abilities. A person may become unable to walk without assistance, then unable to sit or hold up his or her head without support. Muscles may become rigid and reflexes abnormal. Eventually, a person loses the ability to swallow and to control bladder and bowel functions.