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We have probably all heard of Alzheimer's Disease, but do we really know what it is? Alzheimer's is a form of dementia. Dementia means progressive mental deterioration. The term dementia, sometimes referred to as senility, is used to descibe a gradual deterioration of cognitive (thinking abilties) and behavior to a point that interferes with daily living activities.
Alzheimer's is hereditary, but that is not the only way it develops. Sporadic Alzheimer's is the way most people develop Alzheimer's. Sporadic Alzheimer's is when people develop it randomly, from brain disease.
Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative disease (meaning the brain cells degenerate) of the brain causing progressive, permanent deterioration. It not only affects memory but also things like behavior, judgement, mental process such as decision making, thought process, and concentration or lack thereof. It also affects things like, visual perception, temperament, feelings, emotions, social interaction, and language. This is because all of these things are controlled by different areas in the brain. If you know someone who has had a stroke, depending on which side of the brain it was on, you will notice some of these above areas will have been affected.
Alzheimer's usually affects short term memory first and signs of this disease may be present subtly years before a diagnosis is made. Early signs include: memory loss, forgetfulness, forgetting names, then later there is decreased ability to concentrate, poor judgement, disorientation, mood and behavior changes. As Alzheimer's progresses the person regressses, remembering less and less of the present and more and more of the past.
Forgetfulness becomes worse and worse. The person may become confused often, irritable, and their personality changes. Eventually the person will "forget" how to talk. In the latter stages, the person actually forgets how to walk, and eventually becomes bedridden. They will lose control of bowel and bladder, then they will eventually forget how to eat, chew and swallow. Sometimes feeding tubes are inserted, if the family wishes to do so. The entire process may take from two to 20 years depending on the person's overall health initially. Often the person dies of complications from some form of the deterioration. For example because they become immobile, they can develop pneumonia, bedsores, kidney infections.
Alzheimer's disease rarely occurs before the age of 65, although, as we said before, subtle signs may occur years before. Diagnosis is made almost exclusively on cognitive testing because there are no blood tests and Alzheimer's cannot appear on a brain scan, although things like stroke or brain tumor can be ruled out.
There are some medications now for Alzheimer's such as Cognex, which increased certain brain chemicals to slow the process. Also medications are given to treat symptoms such as sleeplessness, anxiety and aggression.
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