Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease is a medical condition which results in the slow progressive impairment of memory which eventually affects planning, language reasoning and perception. Many researchers believe that this could be caused due to the accumulation of plaque (Protein chunks) in the arteries that connect to the brain. This is what causes the death of a large number of nerve cells. Alzheimer’s is not a natural pattern of nature that occurs with aging. A lot of people go on to live to over 100 years and never develop the disease. It has, on the contrary, been noticed that people over the age of 70 are more likely to contract the disease.
Causes
The actual cause of Alzheimer’s is not known. Research is on to find out the root cause of the disease. On going studies indicate that a excess of a small protein known as ABeta could be causing the deadly disease. Researchers are trying to find ways on how to remove the accumulated ABeta protein which would then slow down or prevent the disease.
Symptoms
The onset of Alzheimer’s is usually gradual and slowly progressive. The first thing that can show signs of Alzheimer’s is memory loss. Though, this could be initially dismissed as a normal part of aging, it could be an initial warning signs of Alzheimer’s . Problems of memory, particularly for recent events (short-term memory) are common early in the course of Alzheimer's disease
Other changes that can be noticed are less spontaneity, apathy and withdrawal from social interactions. As the disease progresses, the person may start having trouble understanding what is being read, organizing the day’s work, disturbances in behavior and appearance with high levels of irritation and agitation.
Later in the course of the disorder, the individual may become confused and disoriented being very erratic in mood, un-cooperative and lose bladder and bowel control and eventually become incapable of caring for themselves.
Treatment
Standard drugs are usually prescribed to control psychiatric symptoms like depression, agitation, anxiety, sleep disorders and hallucinations. Usually these drugs are prescribed only when the symptoms get very severe. IF the behavior of the Patient is infrequent or mild, they often would not require medication. Non-pharmacologic measures can be very useful.
In many patients’ though, it is seen that these symptoms are so severe and frequent that it becomes very difficult for caregivers to take care of the patient in which case, treatment with medication to control these symptoms becomes necessary. Agitation is the most common and is particularly seen in the middle and later stages of Alzheimer's disease.
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