Alzheimer's Disease Dementia

This is a brain disorder that mostly affects people in old age. The disease was named after a German physician by the name of Alois Alzheimer who happened to have been the first to elaborately describe the condition way backing 1906. The disease is a progressive one and develops with age. Given its progressive nature, the disease has turned out to be a major course of concern since it has become a major killer of the in the U.S. an estimated 5.3million Americans are reportedly living with the disease which has developed to become the seventh leading killer among the old in America's recent years.

The disease is often characterized with dementia, a term commonly used to describe conditions that are characterized by memory loss. The disease can result in severe memory loss that can ultimately lead to serious decline in the intellectual abilities of patients. Alzheimer's dementia accounts for about 70% of total number of Dementia cases. A serious course of alarm is the fact that this disease has no known cure yet. This categorically means that the only option if diagnosed with the condition is to try and manage the disease. Just like is common in cases of HIV related diseases, the best option that can guarantee a patient longer life is the proper management of symptoms.

How does Alzheimer's disease develop?

The brain like any other parts of our bodies, register strains with age. As the days go by and our bodies' age, every other component of the body including cells and other body organs also degenerate in similar fashion. It is quite normal to occasionally forget a thing or two, however, severe loss of memory is not a usual symptom associated with old age. The brain has several neurons which the nervous system uses to link the communications from one nerve cell to the next. Different nerve cells have different functions such as thinking, remembering transmitting signals etc. When the nerve cells begin to fail, the communication networks within the nervous system begin to experience break downs. As more and more nerve cells fail to link the various signals from one cell to the next, then the brain's ability to function begin to deteriorate accordingly.

Since the disease develops as a result of continued brain cells damage it is important to identify the main culprits in so far as the brain cells damage is concerned. The main culprits responsible for cells damage are plaques and tangles. Plaques and tangles are structures that develop between nerves depositing unwanted protein fragments of protein which greatly hinder the usual communication between one cell and another.

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