Alzheimer's

Alzheimer GPS Tracking

It is a heart wrenching experience watching someone you love slip away. This is what happens to anyone with a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

As the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that causes a person to lose his memory, learning and retention, ability to make judgments, and several other cognitive and motor functions.

Oftentimes, the brain damage is so severe that an Alzheimer’s patient won’t even remember what street he lives on. There have been too many reports of Alzheimer’s patients having lost their way or just wandered off away from their homes. Countless findings show that over 60-70% of all patients with the disease will become lost at least once in their lifetime. But worse than that, reports state that nearly 50% of these Alzheimer’s patients could die if they are not found within 24 hours.

Much of the research going on right now about Alzheimer’s disease is focused on finding future therapies, drugs, and cures. But while all these findings are great discoveries in the long run, none of them are the proper solution to the very real problems patients are quite literally facing down the road – getting lost.

Fortunately, not all research on Alzheimer’s disease is focused on its medical aspect. Some have come up with more practical solutions to deal with the present problem of wandering and lost patients, and one of these emblems of practicality is a device that could monitor the whereabouts of an Alzheimer’s patient – an Alzheimer GPS tracking device.

GPS, of course, stands for Global Positioning Systems, the technology that has been used for everything from military operations to avid outdoorsmen out on the trail. But the practical uses of GPS technology do not end there. It is used to track down cars that have been stolen and more recently, it is also used to track down persons.

Ethical questions might arise, but let’s put that aside for now. Instead, let’s think about how tracking a child or an elderly person in a non-invasive way can benefit society at large. An Alzheimer GPS tracking device can be as simple as a necklace equipped with GPS technology or a GPS wristwatch. Wherify, a manufacturer of an Alzheimer GPS tracking watch even comes equipped with a locking device in order to keep the patient from removing it, whether accidentally or deliberately.

These Alzheimer GPS tracking devices will work depending on each manufacturer. Some may provide constant Alzheimer GPS tracking 24/7 while others will only work when you want to find out the patient’s location.

The future of Alzheimer GPS tracking certainly looks bright. When you love someone who has Alzheimer’s, you will not want to overlook any option to protect him or her from a sometimes cruel and harsh world.