What is Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's is a brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and eventually the ability to perform the simplest tasks. It starts slowly and gets worse over time. Currently there is no cure.
A common cause of dementia
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. Dementia is a loss of thinking, remembering, and reasoning skills that interferes with daily life and activities of a person. Dementia ranges in severity from mild stage, when it is just beginning to affect the functioning of a person, at the severe stage, when the person is completely dependent on others for basic care.
Estimates vary, but experts suggest that nearly 5.1 million people in the United States may have Alzheimer's disease. Symptoms usually begin after age 60 and the risk of developing the disease increases with age. While young people - in their 30s, 40s, and 50s - can get Alzheimer's disease, it is much less common. It is important to note that Alzheimer's disease is not a normal part of aging.
What is Alzheimer's disease?
The evolution of the disease, Alzheimer's symptoms and the speed with which changes occur vary from person to person. Time of diagnosis to death also varies. It can be as little as 3 or 4 years if the person has more than 80 years at diagnosis or as long as 10 years or more if the person is younger.
Memory Problems
Memory problems are usually one of the first signs of Alzheimer's disease. People with Alzheimer's have trouble doing everyday things like drive a car, cook a meal, or pay bills. They may ask the same questions again and again, easily lost, losing things or put them in odd places, and even find simple confusion. Some people become anxious, angry or violent.
Not all people with memory problems and Alzheimer's disease. Mild forgetfulness can be a normal part of aging. Some people may notice that it takes longer to learn new things, remembering certain words, or find their glasses.
Sometimes memory problems are related to health problems that are treatable. For example, medication side effects, vitamin B12 deficiency or liver or kidney problems can lead to memory loss or possibly dementia. Emotional problems such as stress, anxiety or depression, can also make a person more forgetful and can be mistaken for dementia.
Mild Cognitive Impairment
Some older people with memory or other thinking problems have a condition called mild cognitive impairment or MCI. MCI may be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease, but not everyone with MCI will develop Alzheimer's disease. People with MCI can always take care of themselves and do their normal activities.
Signs may include MCI
• lose things often
• forget to go events and appointments
• have a harder time coming up with words that other people of the same age.
If you or someone in your family think your forgetting is getting in the way of your normal routine, it is time to consult your doctor. See the doctor when you start having memory problems can help you find what is causing your forgetfulness.
What happens to the brain in Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a
German physician. In
1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died
of an unusual mental illness. He
found many abnormal clumps (now called amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles
(now called neurofibrillary tangles) fibers. Plaques
and tangles in the brain are two of the main characteristics of Alzheimer's
disease. The
third is the loss of connections between nerve cells in the brain.
Although we still do not know how Alzheimer's begins, it seems likely that brain damage begins at 10 years or more before the problems become evident. During the first stage of Alzheimer's disease, people are free of symptoms, but adverse changes occur in the brain. Abnormal protein deposits form plaques and tangles in the brain. Once healthy to lose their ability to function and communicate with each other, and ultimately nerve cells, they die.
Inside the Brain: Unraveling the Mystery of Alzheimer's disease
As brain cells die, the parts of the brain begin to shrink. For the final stage of Alzheimer's disease, damage is widespread and brain tissue has shrunk significantly.