Alzheimer Disease Symptoms, Causes, And Treatment
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disorder in which the brain cells die. It leads to memory loss and cognitive decline. It is a type of dementia that causes memory, behaviour, and thinking about related issues.
The Progression Of Alzheimer’s Disease Can Be Divided Into Three Stages-
- Preclinical: This occurs before the symptoms are visible
- Mild cognitive impairment: At this stage, symptoms are not severe
- Dementia: At this stage, the symptoms become very severe.
The disease occurs gradually and gets worse with time. Slowly, it becomes so severe that it starts interfering with daily tasks. In early stages, memory loss is mild, but gradually individuals start finding it difficult to converse and respond to the environment. In the end, a person with Alzheimer’s might require full-time assistance.
Read along to know more about the critical illness.
Alzheimer’s Disease Causes
Similar to other dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is caused by the death of brain cells. It is a neurodegenerative disease, that is, progressive brain cell death happens over a period of time. The person suffering from this critical illness has very fewer nerve cells and connections. Main causes of the disease include:
- Heart diseases
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Family history
- Smoking
It has become evident from the autopsies that the nerve tissue in an individual’s brain with this disease has plaques and tangles, which are tiny deposits, build upon the tissue.
The researchers are not fully aware = why these changes occur but believe several factors to be involved in it.
Alzheimer’s Disease Symptoms
Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed when a person suffers from slowing down in cognitive and behavioural performance. At least two of the five symptoms given below must be witnessed in the patient:
- Unable to receive and memorise new information. For instance-getting lost on a known route, misplacing personal belongings, forgetting appointments or dates, etc.
- Weak in complex tasking, judgement, and reasoning. For instance-indecisive, unable to manage finances, unable to understand safety risks, etc.
- Weakened visuospatial abilities (not caused due to vision problems). For instance-inability to find objects in the view, etc.
- Impaired reading, writing, and speaking skills. For instance, the inability to think of commonly used words while talking, errors while writing, etc.
- Personality or behavioural changes. For instance, loss of empathy, socially unacceptable behaviour, etc.
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Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment
Although there is no cure for the disease, some possible therapeutic interventions can enable patients to survive with this disease. These are-
- Creating a safe and supportive environment
- Stopping smoking
- Following daycare programs and other activities
- Clinical trials and alternative medicine
- Leading an active life (physically and mentally)
- Effective management of other conditions (if occurring) with the Alzheimer
- Regular health checkups as you age
- Taking help from the support groups and services
Also Read
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