Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, is a disease that afflicts more than 4 million older citizens in the US. Alzheimer's is a degenerative neurological disorder that leads to impairments in memory, thinking and reasoning. AD is the most common cause of dementia in older people, and mainly affects people 65 and over. Within the last few years, there have been drugs that can temporarily treat the patients, but it remains a form of dementia that is irreversible. The disease is very hard on both the person who receives the diagnosis and on his or her family and friends. Aside from medical help, those affected by the diagnosis may want to consider counseling and support groups to help them cope.

In its earliest stages, Alzheimer disease slowly robs patients of their "higher brain functions," including short-term memory and the ability to learn new information. As the disease progresses, patients gradually begin to experience confusion, have trouble making routine decisions, and eventually lose the ability to perform even simple self-care tasks, such as bathing and eating. The disease may also produce changes in personality, behavior, and mood, such as depression, apathy, and withdrawal or baseless fears and aggressive behavior.

Alzheimer disease is a condition that causes the nerve cells in the brain to degenerate and the brain matter to shrink. It affects parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. It can only be diagnosed by a histopathologic examination, to check for the presence of tangles and plaques, which are primary causes of Alzheimer's. Neurofibrillary tangles are bundles of twisted fibers that accumulate in the cell bodies of neurons. Neuritic plaques are round or oval lesions consisting of an amyloid protein core surrounded by fragments of damaged neurons. These types of lesions occur in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, the regions of the brain which control such higher intellectual functions as memory, thinking, reasoning and sensory perception.

Increasing age, being female, mental retardation, and genetics are well-established risk factors of the disease. Age is the main factor of risk, because people from the ages to 75-84 are at 19% risk and people 85 and older are about 47% at risk. At all ages, women have a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than men. By age 93 women's ...

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...rcise, social activity, and proper nutrition are important in keeping the patient healthy as well. Any steps toward producing a calm, safe, and well-structured environment may help the patient. Helping the patient and the family with the legal aspects, supporting the family through care giving, and assisting with decisions about long-term care placement are also crucial to help the patient.

For a person with Alzheimer’s cared for at home, the average to family caregivers is $12,500 per year. For people with Alzheimer's in nursing homes, the average cost is $42,000 per year per person. The average cost to care for a person with Alzheimer's from diagnosis until death is about $174,000. This makes Alzheimer's disease the nation's third most costly illness, after heart disease and cancer.

This disease although not fatal, can prove to be overwhelming and devastating, is becoming more and more evident in our society. It can cause people to move apart from the people who love them the most, and there is no way to stop it. The only thing to do is try and keep them as close and healthy to you as possible and to do the best you can to try and keep their quality of life as best as it can be.