What does Advanced Dementia mean in medical terms ?
Advanced dementia typically refers to a state of profound physical and cognitive disability that is the end result of a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, the most common of which is Alzheimer disease. The Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) is a validated and reliable instrument describing the clinical progression of dementia. Scores range from 1 to 7, with higher scores indicating greater dementia severity. Stage 7 of the GDS provides a useful description of advanced dementia: profound memory deficits (inability to recognize family members), speech limited to fewer than five words, total functional dependence, incontinence, and inability to ambulate.