Alzheimer’s disease is a common disease affecting the brain leading to loss of memory and impairment of reasoning and logical ability. This disease is one of the major causes of dementia (loss of social/intellectual skills). Alzheimer’s disease is a type of progressive disorder that does not occur overnight. Slowly the connections of brain cells are degenerated causing death of cells which leads to reduced mental function and memory loss. It occurs mostly in elderly people of age group 75-85 years.
Symptoms :
Alzheimer’s disease does not strike anyone overnight and it occurs as slow process. You can make note of the following 10 warning signals that leads to progressive disease.
- Loss of memory
- Difficulty in speaking/writing
- Confusion of thoughts
- Trouble in performing familiar tasks
- Difficulty in reasoning out time and place
- Impairment of judgment skills
- Difficulty in concentrating and remembering things
- Mood swings/changes in sleeping pattern
- Changes in behavior and personality
- Withdrawal from society/ depression
Initially there may be only few symptoms like confusion of thoughts and increased forgetfulness but as the disease progresses there will be more and more loss of memory. The intensity of memory loss may not be the same for all people. Due to loss of memory you may not be able to remember even simple tasks like where you have put your keys, forget your appointments, misplace many things, and forget the names of close friends and even family members.
Disorientation is very common in people with Alzheimer’s disease. They may not able to tell what day it is or even what season it is. It becomes very difficult for them to understand about their current life and they often get lost even with familiar places. Trouble in choosing the right word while speaking/writing and difficulty in conversation is common in people with this disease.
Due to reduced reasoning skills and thinking ability it can be difficult for them to manage their financial needs and pay regular bills on time. Most of them affected with this disease will have increased difficulty in dealing with numbers. It becomes really challenging for them to do regular tasks like driving or making food. Sometimes they may have trouble in performing certain basic tasks like bathing or dressing as the disease progresses. As there is more of death of brain cells it can cause personality changes, mood swings and disturbed sleeping pattern.
Who are at risk?
Increasing age is the main risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease. People who are above 65 years have 10% chances and people who are above 80 years have about 50% chances for getting this disease. Individuals with Down’s syndrome are more prone to develop this disease than others. Genetics play an important role in this regard. You are prone to develop Alzheimer’s disease if any of your parent or close relative already has this disease. Gene mutation in specific e genes will make one prone to develop this disorder. Often, this disease runs in families.
Women are more prone to develop this disease than men for reasons unknown. A person identified with mild cognitive impairment has increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. An individual who have undergone severe head injury or accident is likely to get this disease. As the disease advances it would kill more and more of brain cells causing shrinkage of brain. When the brain tissues are examined under microscope it was found that a person having this disease can have more of plaque like deposits or protein (beta amyloid) molecules in his/her brain cells. This was believed to cause loss of memory due to reduced cell communication.