Alzheimers

Alzheimers is a type of dementia which causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior of people. Symptoms develop slowly and get worse as time passes, becoming severe enough to cause problems with daily tasks.

Understanding Alzheimers and dementia

Alzheimers is mainly the cause of dementia, a frequent word for memory loss and other reflective abilities serious in order to cause an imbalance in daily life. Alzheimers disease accounts for 50 percent to 80 percent of dementia cases. Alzheimers is not a normal part of aging. The greatest notable risk factor is increased age, and the majority of individuals with Alzheimers are sixty-five years and older. But Alzheimers is not simply a disease of old age. Approximately 200,000 Americans below the age of sixty-five have younger-onset Alzheimers’s disease (also referred to as early-onset Alzheimers’s). Alzheimers worsens over time. Alzheimers could be a progressive disease, wherever dementia symptoms bit by bit worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is gentle, however with late-stage Alzheimers , people lose the power to carry on a conversation and reply to their atmosphere. Alzheimers is the sixth-leading reason for death within the united states. On average, an individual with Alzheimers lives four to eight years after identification, however, can live as long as twenty years, counting on other factors. Alzheimers has no current cure, however, treatments for symptoms are out there and research continues. However current Alzheimers treatments cannot stop it from progressing but dementia symptoms can temporarily be slowed and quality of life can be improved for those with Alzheimers and their caregivers. Today, there is a worldwide effort underway to find higher ways to treat the illness, delay its onset, and prevent it from developing.

Symptoms of Alzheimers’s

The early symptom of Alzheimers is difficulty in remembering newly learned information. Just like the rest of our bodies, our brain changes as we get aged. We notice some occasional problems with remembering certain things. However, serious memory loss, confusion and other major changes in the way our minds work may be a reflection of brain cells failing. Alzheimers changes typically begin in the part of the brain which affects learning. As time advances, it leads to severe symptoms, like changes in orientation, mood, behavior causing confusion about events, time and place, more serious memory loss, behavior changes and also difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking. People with memory loss or other possible signs of Alzheimers may find it hard to recognize that they have a problem. Anyone experiencing symptoms of dementia must see a doctor immediately. Earlier diagnosis and treatments are improving dramatically, and sources of support will help in improving the quality of life.

Alzheimers and the brain

Minute changes in the brain begin long before the first signs of memory loss are seen. The brain has 100 billion neurons. Each neuron connects with many others to form a network for communication. Groups of nerve cells have special jobs. Some are assigned for handling processes like thinking, learning, and memory. Others help us see, hear and smell. To work properly, brain cells function like tiny factories. Cells process and store information and also communicate with other cells. To keep everything running, it requires coordination as well as large amounts of fuel and oxygen. Scientists believe that Alzheimers disease prevents parts of a cell factory from working well. They are not sure where the trouble starts. But just like a real factory, breakdowns in one system cause problems in other areas. As damage spreads, cells lose their ability to do their jobs and, eventually die, causing irreversible changes in the brain.

Alzheimers and Clinical Trials

With progress in these clinical trials, and others not included here, we will learn more about how to prevent, slow, and perhaps even someday reverse the devastating effects of Alzheimers’s disease. Participation in a clinical trial should be considered as a way of advancing knowledge and possibly benefiting from a treatment not yet widely available, but clinical trials are not without risk. In some cases, participation in a clinical trial delays treatment with a standard (if less effective) approach. Clinical trials, too, can expose a subject to unhelpful placebo treatment and/or toxic effects of an experimental medication, so participation should only be undertaken after careful consideration of the risks and benefits as well as the other available treatment options.
For many people affected by AD, however, clinical trials offer both individual hope and an opportunity for altruism. One day, one or more of these new approaches may make a real difference in our ability to fight a disease that remains the most relentless of our major causes of death.