Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month – How Health Insurance Helps

 

It’s Alzheimer’s awareness month, and it’s important to learn how to make sure that you’re adequately prepared should Alzheimer’s disease attack anyone in your family. Let’s take a moment and consider how Alzheimer’s affects our loved ones and family. Would you know what to do if your loved one suddenly forgot his or her name? What if he or she couldn’t remember their own address or even who you are?

At present, there are over 747,000 people in Canada who are living with a form of dementia or Alzheimer’s. In the entire world, there are approximately 44 million persons who are living with the condition. That makes over half of the entire population of Canada in the entire world are struggling with one form or another of this disease.

This is a crisis of global proportions that must be addressed. The words, “you or your loved one have Alzheimer’s” can be life-changing for everyone involved.

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is life-changing for the person with the disease, as well as their family and friends, but information and support are available. No one has to face Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia alone. Thankfully, Canada has an excellent healthcare system. Of course, you don’t want to sit and wait it out until the day of your diagnosis or your loved one’s diagnosis before you are concerned about securing quality health insurance. It’s vital to secure such insurance well before you or your loved one are diagnosed. This way, you won’t have a waiting period for a pre-existing medical condition. Having health insurance prior to diagnosis will also help to reduce the premium rate as there won’t be a pre-existing condition that will make for higher premiums.

 

Facts About Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of Dementia.
Dementia is any condition that affects the brain and memory.
Not everyone is going to get Alzheimer’s.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s aren’t a normal part of aging.
Once a person reaches the age of 65, the risk factor for getting Alzheimer’s will double every five years.
If your parents or a sibling have Alzheimer’s, you are at a far higher risk to get Alzheimer’s.
Genetics plays a role in Alzheimer’s, but scientists and doctors don’t fully understand it at this time.
Researchers have found that lower levels of education tend to go along with people getting Alzheimer’s although this study is still undergoing.
A traumatic brain injury can increase the risk for Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s knows no social or economic bounds.
At present, only about half of the people who have Alzheimer’s have been formally diagnosed.

Treatment for Alzheimer’s is focused on treating other medical conditions. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s. Treatment will include medications that can help to restore bits of memory temporarily, but the memory isn’t fully restored. Medications can be given that will help to ease the agitation and sleeplessness of the patient, but these will have to be administered on a daily basis.

Alzheimer’s affects each patient differently. This is because Alzheimer’s can affect different areas of the brain. It’s not at all unusual for the meek and mild-mannered person to become belligerent (swearing, refusing to wear clothing and so on) and uncooperative while the belligerent person may become meek and mild-mannered after Alzheimer’s has set in. That is because Alzheimer’s attacks these portions of the brain that tell a person whether or not such things are appropriate.

 

Average Cost Of Fighting Alzheimer’s

In Canada, the average cost of having proper care for an Alzheimer’s patient can be as much as $30 per hour. This includes caregiving and medication management. This doesn’t include the cost of medications nor the cost of the rest of the medical care that will go along with the treatment protocol that must be done for the patient.

If the patient must go into assisted living, that cost may be upwards of $3,500 per month for the entire living situation, and that doesn’t include all of the medical care costs.

Understanding how Alzheimer’s presents itself and affects a person will go far in helping families to cope with the situation. Not everyone who is at risk for Alzheimer’s will get Alzheimer’s. It is believed that there are other factors besides genetics that may contribute to the equation.

Such factors as lifestyle risks and environmental issues may all play a part in the patient’s diagnosis. Someone who hasn’t taken good care of themselves nor been eating a proper healthy diet may be at a higher risk than someone who is eating properly and exercising on a daily basis. Researchers are continuing to research and try to pinpoint risk factors for Alzheimer’s.

 

Alzheimer’s and Health Insurance

Information is a powerful tool that can help to open up the discussion of Alzheimer’s and help a family to cope and deal with the situation. Having proper medical insurance before diagnosis will go far in helping the family to defer medical costs due to Alzheimer’s. If there are familial risk factors, having this insurance beforehand can make a huge difference in ensuring that the patient can receive timely treatment. The sooner treatment is begun the sooner the family can move forward and begin the transition to dealing with the rest of the situation.

Understanding Alzheimer’s will go far in helping people to avoid risk factors and lead a healthy normal life. Helping the patient to participate in activities that they can still do is an essential step in helping them to deal with the condition as well. Many patients struggle even more because they don’t understand why they can no longer do the things that they love to do. It may be important to hide the car keys and keep them away from the stove in the kitchen so that they don’t start a fire by accident.

It’s always easier to prepare before you need something. That’s why you should be prepared with your health insurance before you need it. Having the right insurance will help ensure that your prepared for the future and able to afford the medical care that is needed and required for a higher quality of life.