Alzheimer's, not just an old man's disease

Alzheimer's disease, we've all hear of it but do we really understand the disease? According to statistics, there are about 350,000 new cases of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed each year in the United States. Doing the math, you could have more than 4.5 million Americans by the year 2050 that would be affected by the disease. A grimmer outlook indicates that by 2025, there will be 34 million people worldwide Alzheimers disease. Let's tackle the issue step by step. Alzheimer's disease is a known brain disorder that is progressive and irreversible. It is still not known where and how the disorder develops in the human brain neither is there any sure fire cure for the disease. What is known by medical scientists is that the disease attacks slowly. It takes its time, gnawing slowly at the victims' minds stealing memories and causing deterioration of brain functions. Alzheimer's is a disease that causes irreversible dementia and is always fatal. It was German psychiatrist Dr. Alois Alzheimer who first identified the disease. At first he noted the disease's symptoms as "amnestic writing disordear," however when later studies were conducted Dr. Alzheimer found out that the symptoms were more than ordinary memory loss. It was far worse. Dr. Alzheimer found the presence of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques in the brain. The good doctor presented his findings which were accepted by the medical community. And soon enough, by 1910 the name of the disease was accepted and became known as Alzheimer's disease. The most common early symptoms of the disease are confusion, being inattentive and have problems with orientation, personality changes, experiencing short-term memory loss, language difficulties and mood swings. Probably the most obvious and striking early symptom of Alzheimer's is loss of short term memory. At fist the victim will exhibits minor forgetfulness, but as the disease slowly progress he/she will start to forget a lot of things. However, older memories are oftentimes left untouched. Because of this, patients with Alzheimer's will start to be less energetic and spontaneous. As the disease progress, they will have trouble learning new things and reacting on outside stimuli which gets them all confused and causes them to exercise poor judgment. This is considered Stage 1 of the disease. At Stage 2 the patient will now need assistance in performing complicated tasks. Speech and understanding is evidently slower. At this stage, Alzheimer's victims are already aware that they have the disease which causes a whole lot of problems like depression and restlessness. At this point, only the distant past can be recalled and recent events are immediately forgotten. Patients will have difficulty telling time, date and where they are. The final stage is of course the hardest, both for the patient and their family. At Stage 3 the patient will start to lose control of a lot of bodily functions like simple chewing and swallowing. He/she will start getting the needed nutrients through a tube. At Stage 3, the patient will no longer remember basically anyone. They will lose bowel and bladder control and they will become vulnerable to third party infections and diseases like pneumonia. Once the patient become bedridden, things will only get worse. Respiratory problems will become more terrible. It is apparent that the patient will need constant care. At this point, the most one can do is to make sure that the patient stays as comfortable as possible. At the terminal stage, death is inevitable.

Drugs as a Treatment for Alzheimers

As more and more individuals are diagnosed with the debilitating Alzheimers disease, more and more information are coming up as scientists and researchers continue to find out more about this enigmatic type of dementia. Despite this however, a lot of questions remain unanswered. These unanswered questions are hampering experts from finding out the cause of the disease as well as the cure. What is known for a fact is that individuals begin to become susceptible to the disease at the age of 65 and above. It is also known that Alzheimers disease attack the brain and causes an abnormality there, which in turn causes the loss of normal functions in the body. When a person has Alzheimers, he or she will have an abnormal deposit of brain protein that destroys the brain's neurons, nerves and neurotransmitters. An autopsy of the brain of the person who suffered from Alzheimers will show a decrease of brain size and a smoother surface. If experts can absolutely conclude on the causes of Alzheimers then perhaps an Alzheimers drug as a vaccine can be administered to individuals to be able to inhibit the ailment from happening. The statistics on Alzheimers cases are starting to raise much concern because care for individuals with this disease can rake up a lot of money that may in turn put a dent on a country's health care system funds because of the alarming number of cases of individuals with Alzheimers. Intensive care and costs are entailed for individuals who suffer from this because although at the onset and mild stage of the disease, only a slight short term memory loss is perceived, eventually the sufferer will lose more and more cognitive abilities. The person will begin to forget things more and more and will even begin to lose recognition of people and things that are a close part of his or life. There will also be marked instances of uncontrollable changes in behavior. As the disease advances, the Alzheimers sufferer will begin to lose more and more motor skills and the ability to function independently from another. They will then have to be cared for by qualified caregivers who will have to take care of getting them fed and mobile when needed. Aside from this though, the most imperative need for concrete answers in terms of Alzheimers drug treatments lies in the fact that this disease is irreversible and inexorably progresses into death. At present, Alzheimers disease has no known cure and Alzheimers drug treatments give only slight symptomatic relief for some patients but in no way can it buy an individual more time. This claim has been debated however by pharmaceutical companies. For more information about Alzheimers drug treatments: what has been observed to work and what hasn't; check out literature on The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry's official statement. There is no reason to lose hope however because involved sectors are doing all they can to be able to conquer this disease. As more and more breakthroughs on the subject arise, there is no doubt that perhaps in the near future, an Alzheimers drug will be found successful in treating and curing this disease. In the meantime, friends, loved ones and caregivers of individuals with Alzheimers need to stay abreast of the latest news and breakthroughs in the field of Alzheimers research.

Alzheimer's Disease

People tend to forget certain things because of work and other priorities. This is not uncommon because this does happen to everybody. However, when an individual tends to forget even the simplest things, there is already something definitely wrong. There is a chance that one has Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is a disorder in the brain. In time, the patient will gradually lose both the intellectual and social abilities making it difficult to do anything and even interact with others. This disease commonly afflicts people above 65 years of age. There are currently 4.5 million Americans that are suffering from this disease. It is projected that this number will increase, as the more population will reach the retirement age. There is no known cure yet for Alzheimer's disease. The only thing medical science can do for now is simply delay the inevitable for those who have just been diagnosed with the disease. Is Alzheimer's disease the same as dementia? The answer is no. This is because dementia is a symptom, which is caused by a disorder such as Alzheimer's disease. There are many symptoms for this disease. It may begin with the person simply forgetting certain things. It is hard to tell at this point but when it gets worse such as not knowing how to get to the office or get home, then there is definitely a problem. Some patients are known to forget how to do some simple mathematical computations or even find the right words when writing a letter. There are those who are also disoriented and find it difficult to do certain tasks and make simple decisions. The worse of these symptoms is perhaps experiencing personality changes even in the presence of family members and close friends. There are times the person is happy and then this will just change for no reason at all. A neurological scan is the best way to check if the patient has Alzheimer's disease. If it is confirmed, the individual has this problem, the best way to treat it is through the use of medical prescribed drugs. There are two namely memantine and cholinesterase inhibitors. Studies have shown these can slow down the process as scientists are still conducting research to finally find a cure for this disease. Patients who are diagnosed with the disorder will probably live more for 8 more years. This will really depend on how strong the person is because some have lived for 3 while others have fought with it for more than 10 years. How can family members help a loved one with this disease? The siblings can take turns watching over the patient. If this is not possible, this is the time that a caregiver must be hired to check on the patient. This specialist will usually stay in the home and make sure the person is safe. Physical and mental exercises must be administered to keep the patient's strength up and even help depression, which is another symptom commonly, associated with Alzheimer's disease. Whenever the people visit, it is best for each person to stay in the line of sight of the patient. It is best to speak slowly and even hold on to the individual, which is known to make the sufferer remember who he or she is talking to.