Getting the Lowdown on Alzheimers disease

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Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Alzheimers’ is an incurable, progressive, but often slow-to-progress disease, the diagnosis isn’t the end of the world but the early of a process and you and your mother just have to have the attitude you’ll deal with it. Alzheimer’s disease, sometimes known as Alzheimers, is the single most common form of dementia but a number of other cases are also known.

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Alzheimer’s disease has been identified as a protein misfolding disease, or proteopathy, due to the accumulation of abnormally folded A-beta and tau proteins in the brains of AD patients. Alzheimer’s is a sad disease as it is, and is hard to watch loved ones going through it. Examples are blood tests, which can identify other causes for dementia different than AD; some of which may even be reversible; or psychological tests for depression, as depression can both co-occur with AD or on the contrary be at the origin of the patient’s cognitive impairment. Current estimates indicate that 4 million people have Alzheimers and 3 million of these are cared for at home.

The patient becomes emaciated to the point of a vegetative state. Alzheimers is a disease that attacks the neurons in the memory area of the brain. Alzheimers is eventually fatal because the person cannot move or swallow. Alzheimers is a progressive disease that can take up to a complete two decades to fully run its course. Assume that people with Alzheimers may understand and hear what you say even if they are confused.

At the moderate stage, progressive deterioration seriously hinders the possibility of independence. Being a caretaker can takes its toll on you as an individual. Caregivers are often in a high risk category when it comes to developing issues that are both emotional and physical. You need to be aware of these risks so that you can take the steps that are necessary to take care of yourself. After all, if you’re experiencing your own issues, how can you be a good caretaker to someone who is counting on you? Genetic factors are clearly indicated as dominant mutations in three different genes that account for the small number of cases of familial, early-onset AD that have been identified. Because the median age of the industrialized world’s population is increasing gradually, Alzheimer’s is a major public health challenge.

If someone in your family has just been identified with Alzheimer Disease, the news can be upsetting and frightening for everyone. Alzheimers is the most common type of disease called dementia, which prevents people from being able to think, remember, and use language. You’ll be worried about the changes that you’re going to be seeing this person go through as well as what the future holds for you as a family. Alzheimers holds no boundaries, Alzheimers is located cross culturally and Alzheimers is found in both sexes in equal proportions. Don’t become isolated and lonely when you become weighed down with the emotions of being a caregiver.

Increasingly, the functional neuroimaging modalities of SPECT and PET are being used to diagnose Alzheimer’s, as they have shown similar ability to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease as methods involving mental status examination. For instance, boldly colored tableware aids those with severe AD, helping people overcome a diminished sensitivity to visual contrast to increase food and beverage intake. It is believed to reduce the production of the toxic amyloid beta in favor of shorter forms of the peptide.

Currently available medications offer relatively small symptomatic benefit for some patients and some medications do slow disease progression. Different articles have criticized the design of studies reporting benefit from these drugs, concluding that they have doubtful clinical utility, are costly, and confer many side effects. Finally, deterioration of muscle and mobility will develop, leading the patient to become bedridden and to lose the ability to feed oneself if death from some external cause (such as infection due to pressure ulcers or pneumonia) does not occur first.

To learn more about Alzhemers disease and Dementia; click on this link, and Alzheimers and Caregivers

The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People with Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss in Later Life (4th Edition) (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)