Why Does it Matter?

One of the first things to understand about Alzheimer’s disease is that the cognitive function affects the physiological function—as the cognitive abilities diminish, so can one’s eyesight. According to Alz.org, vision loss occurs in more than 60% of people who have Alzheimer’s Disease.

There are generally 4 areas where loss of vision occurs:

[1]

Depth Perception—objects start to look as though they are flat as opposed to three dimensional for someone with healthy vision. The AD patient may see shadows that are not there and a dark rug may appear as a hole.

Color Perception—although many people will lose some type of color perception as they age, this loss is much more pronounced in an AD patient, particularly those colors that are  in the blue-violet range.

Contrast Sensitivity—this the inability to discern the differences between objects if they are the same color—a bathroom with white walls, floors and toilet may create difficulty for the person to locate the toilet.

Motion blindness—a person with this type of vision loss is unable to see moving objects; this can give them the feeling of being lost even if they are in familiar surroundings.

An Alzheimer’s patient is susceptible to dramatic weight loss due to the reduction in their visual capabilities. The inability to distinguish between colors makes eating quite difficult. According to a study that was conducted at Boston University, people with Alzheimer’s are not able to distinguish foods that are light in color and beverages served in lighter colored cups.

Because the retina has more receptors, the color red helps to make these items more recognizable. Researchers have found that bright red dramatically affects the patient’s eating habits—using tableware, utensils and cups that are red in color, has shown that food intake increased by 24% and liquid intake increased by 84%.[2]

Using red in other areas of the home can also be quite helpful—perhaps a wall or other differentiating objects. Also, lowering the shades will increase the amount of brightness with lamp lighting. This will help to reduce the appearance of shadows and glare; change in lighting from room to room can also be disorienting.

[1] Alz.org

[2] Jeannette Rosa-Brady and Tracy Dunne, PHD—Massachusetts Chapter Newsletter 1999