Obtaining Accurate Alzheimer’s Disease Information

Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that seriously affects an individual’s ability to perform daily activities. It’s a progressive disease that affects the area of the brain that controls thought, memory, and language. Even though scientists are making new discoveries every day, making more Alzheimer’s disease information available all the time, there is still no real cure for it, and it is still unclear what really causes it.

Alzheimer’s disease is named for Alois Alzheimer, the German doctor who, in 1906, studied changes in the brain of a woman who had died after suffering for years from a strange mental illness. In her brain tissue, he noticed abnormal clumps, now known as amyloid plaques. He also found tangled bundles of fibers, now known as neurofibrillary tangles. Both of these clumps and fibers are present in the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers today, but the true diagnosis cannot be made without doing an autopsy after their deaths.

However, scientists have also been able to determine that there are other brain changes in patients with Alzheimer’s. Certain nerve cells die off in areas of the brain concerned with thought and memory, as well as some chemical changes in these areas. This information helps in researching new treatment options for Alzheimer’s disease.

How widespread is Alzheimer’s disease?

The current Alzheimer's disease information available indicates that approximately 4.5 million Americans are afflicted with this debilitating disease. It usually attacks people over sixty years old, and the risk for Alzheimer’s disease goes up as people age. Younger people do get Alzheimer’s, but this is fortunately much less common. While it is prevalent among the elderly, Alzheimer’s disease information doesn’t indicate that it’s a normal part of the aging process.

Individuals with Alzheimer’s can have the disease for a very long time. It starts out slowly, with subtle changes in a person’s memory and progresses relentlessly, ending with serious brain damage. The average life span of a person who gets Alzheimer’s is eight to ten years – although information shows that some individuals can live as long as twenty years.

Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s disease

Since scientists don’t have enough Alzheimer’s disease information yet, they don’t fully understand what causes it. However, they have identified several risk factors.

Age is one of the biggest risk factors. Over the age of sixty-five, the number of individuals with Alzheimer’s doubles every five years.

Family history also is a risk factor. Scientists believe that genetics plays a role in many Alzheimer’s cases. A certain gene has been found to make a form of protein called apolipoprotein E (ApoE), and while everyone has this ApoE, a percentage of the population has the form of it that is thought to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Other possible risk factors that scientists are studying to gain more information about Alzheimer’s disease include heart disease and stroke, diet and environment, and physical, mental, and social activities.

Effective treatment

No treatment so far can stop Alzheimer’s disease. Many drugs can temporarily prevent symptoms from becoming severe. Drugs like Aricept, Exelon, Cognex, and Namenda are some of the drugs that provide some help to Alzheimer’s sufferers. Other medications can treat some of the behavioral symptoms, like sleeplessness, agitation, depression, and mood swings.

As scientists gain more Alzheimer’s disease information, new treatments are being created and tested in clinical trials. Scientists are conducting studies on neuroimaging, genetics, inflammation, and antioxidants with the hope of finding new information to effect a cure.