Alzheimer The Elderly Most Common Dementia

There are quite a few dementia diseases but when it comes to the elderly, the one that stands out as the most common of those categorized as dementia in nature is, Alzheimer's disease (AD). Dementia...

There are quite a few dementia diseases but when it comes to the elderly, the one that stands out as the most common of those categorized as dementia in nature is, Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Dementia is defined as being any medical condition that interrupts the way the brain normally works. The part of the brain that Alzheimer’s interrupts is that of thought control, language and memory. Scientists are constantly learning new things about how this interruption affects the elderly and other Alzheimer patients but for now, scientists and other researchers have not isolated the cause for Alzheimer’s Disease. This devastating disease affects approximately 4 million individuals who are suffering in just the United States. Typically the disease manifests itself at around age 65, which is why it is referred to as a disease of the elderly.

The population of elderly becomes more impacted as the population ages. By the time individuals are 85 or more, half of these individuals have AD. Unfortunately this statistics leads some to believe that AD is a normal part of aging, it is not. Alzheimer’s is a disease and is not a normal part of the human condition. AD is a disease like other diseases, in that there are ways to identify it, and new studies that are being conducted to find prevention and treatments for AD.

Scientists have been able to identify “hallmarks of AD” within the brain that are senile or neuritic plagues and neurofibrillary tangles. There have also been identified other changes within the brain in individuals with AD that are not present in those of the same age who do not have AD. Those with AD have a loss of nerve cells in certain areas of the brain that are essential to good memory and mental abilities. There are also lower levels of brain chemicals that are necessary to carry messages back and forth from nerve cells to the brain receptacles that process thoughts and memories. These characteristics of AD block messages in the brain, which results in the manifestation of memory loss, and abnormal thinking processes as well as language loss.

Elderly individuals may experience the following symptoms if they are suffering from AD:

A slow progression of any of the following – difficulty remembering names, activities they have participated in, events that have occurred that they were previously aware of, familiar people and cognitive skills like the ability to work familiar math problems. When these symptoms first appear they may irritate the individual but usually do not cause too much of an alarm. As the disease progresses, as it is known to do, the symptoms will become more obvious not only to the individual but also to those around him or her. They soon start to forget how to do daily care tasks like, “how to brush teeth”, or how to “take a bath, or shower”. They start to have difficulty speaking, reading, writing or understanding what is being said to them. This may create such confusion that they can even become anxious or aggressive, or become so confused or forgetful that they wander away from home and other familiar surroundings. This progression of symptoms leads to a request for a diagnosis by the individual or those who care about the individual.

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