Alzheimer s is a degenerative disease that usually begins gradually, causingone to forget familiar tasks and recent events. The rate of advancement variesfrom person to person, but this brain disease eventually leads to confusion,impaired judgment, plus personality and behavioral changes. Communicationbecomes a great task when the person struggles to find words, finish thoughts, orfollow simple directions. Most people with Alzheimer s eventually get to the pointwhere they can no longer care for themselves. The Alzheimers Association has come forward with a list of the ten warningsigns of Alzheimer s. It is common for some to express a few of these signs, but ifseveral of them are exhibited, a complete examination by a physician isrecommended.
The first sign is memory loss that inhibits job skills. Its completely normalfor one to forget an assignment, a colleague s name, or deadline, but frequentbouts of forgetfulness or unexplainable moments of confusion at the workplace andeven at home can signal that something is wrong. The person has difficulty performing everyday tasks. Someone who is busymay get distracted from time to time, but someone who has Alzheimer s has thisproblem more often. For example, they may leave something cooking on the stovefor too long, and might even forget that they had cooked something in the firstplace.
Third, is problems with language. A person with Alzheimer s can forgetsimple words, such as dog or sink, or may substitute inappropriate words, making his or her sentences hard to understand. One may have a poor or a diminution of judgment. It would e a commonmistake to forget to bring along a sweater or jacket on a cool night. A moreserious mistake that someone with Alzheimers would make is wearing severalshirts on a hot and humid day or perhaps wearing a bathrobe to the grocery store.
Someone with Alzheimer s will likely have problems with abstract thinking. Balancing a checkbook can be difficult for many, but a person with this disease canfind it impossible. A problem with misplacing things in uncommon places is another sign. Anexample would be putting away shoes in the refrigerator or placing a wristwatch inthe sugar bowl – and then will not remember how they got there in the first place.
A change in mood or behavior is the eighth sign. People with Alzheimer stend to have rapid mood swings for no apparent reason. Ninth, is a change in personality. People s personalities change, but a personwith Alzheimer s can change dramatically. This can happen either suddenly or overa long period of time. Tenth and last is a loss of initiative. A person with Alzheimers disease maybecome disinterested and uninvolved in many or all of his or her usual pursuits.
Each year, scientists are uncovering more and more clues as to what causesthis disease, which is helping to produce more accurate diagnostic tests and bettertreatment options for people with Alzheimer s. In the last year alone, much has come through about the factors that maylead to the onset of Alzheimer s. There have been notable findings from two chief studies that have improvedour understanding of plaques and tangles in the brains of individuals with thisaffection. These findings may eventually lead to the development of treatments toslow the effects of the disease process.
There has been the discovery of a lesion characteristic found in Alzheimer spatients. This lesion, named AMY plaque, may play a part in the onset andprogression of Alzheimer s disease. Investigation into this finding could helpresearchers to further understand the disease process and how interventiontherapies may be designed. Studies of the inflammatory processes of the brain and the role of oxidativestress in Alzheimer s disease have led to the preliminary indications of thebeneficial use of anti- inflammatories, such as ibuprofen, and anti-oxidants likevitamin E, in treating or slowing the progression of the disease.
Several of the other lines of ongoing research of this disease include: genetic factors related to the onset of the disease, Ab protein and senile plaques, the role of estrogen in the brain, neurotransmitter deficiencies and dysfunction inbrain cell communication, inflammation and its effect on brain activity, andoxidative stress and its effect on brain cell processes. There are as many as four million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer sdisease, and, as the aging population continues to grow, this number can easilyreach fourteen million by the middle of the next century if no cure of prevention isfound.
