Live Life Team
It is a form of dementia which involves loss of mental capabilities like reasoning and memory. It is gradual condition, i.e. it gets worse with time. It might start with minor memory problems like confusion with the words, difficulty in saying the words right.
It mainly attacks the nerves, brain and neurotransmitters. Clumps of protein are formed around the brain cells, they are known as plaques and bundles. They destroy the connection between the brain cells.
This disease commonly occurs at the age of 65 and above. Although there is no cure for this disease a balanced diet, no smoking and reduction of alcohol in take in the initial stages might help.
SYMPTOMS
There are three stages of Alzheimer:
- mild
- moderate
- severe
Mild Alzheimer:
The symptoms are confusion, poor memory and forgetfulness, mood swings, and problems with speech.
This is caused due to slow deterioration of brain functions, the first part of the brain to be damaged are the ones that control the speech functions and the memory.
Moderate Alzheimer:
Symptoms are hallucinations, delusions, obsessive or repetitive behaviour, thinking you have done or experienced something that never happened, disturbed sleep, and incontinence.
The person affected will start having problems with speech, most recent incidents and language; this will in turn lead to frustration and mood swings.
Severe Alzheimer:
Symptoms are difficulty swallowing, difficulty changing position or moving from place to place without assistance, loss of appetite or loss of weight, increased vulnerability to infection, and complete loss of short-term and long-term memory.
When in this stage, the deceased will suffer from major disorientation and confusion. The hallucination worsens during the night and the deceased becomes suspicious, demanding and eventually violent.
Causes: People with a family history of Alzheimer are more prone to the disease. People suffering from Down syndrome have higher risk of developing the disease; this is because they have an additional copy of chromosome 21 whose protein is generally found in the deceased person’s brain (Alzheimer victim). This Excess amount of protein can lead to Alzheimer. People who have suffered from head injuries or been victims of severe whiplashes can be at higher risk of getting the disease.
Aluminium was proposed to be one of the causes but it hasn’t been proved so far.
Diagnosis
The symptoms can be similar to various other health conditions, for example vitamin deficiency, thyroid problems, infection, anxiety, brain tumour and depression.
There is no basic way to diagnosing the disease except for ruling out other possible diseases, which is done by taking blood tests and getting physical examinations done. If the patient is suspected of having Alzheimer, he will be given a few memory assessment tests and if necessary a brain scan which checks for changes in the brain.
Treatment
The prescribed medicines for the disease are donepezil (brand name Aricept), rivastigmine (brand name Exelon), galantamine (brand name Reminyl), and memantine (brand name Ebixa).
