~~~~Facts~~~~
**Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously affects a person’s ability to carry out daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia among older people. It involves the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. At the present time the causes of AD are still unknown, and there is no cure.**
**Scientists think that up to 4 million Americans suffer from AD. The disease usually begins after age 60, and risk goes up with age. While younger people also may get AD, it is much less common. About 3 percent of men and women ages 65 to 74 have AD, and nearly half of those age 85 and older may have the disease. AD is not however a normal part of aging.**
**AD is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German doctor. In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness.He found abnormal clumps (now called amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of fibers (now called neurofibrillary tangles). Today, these plaques and tangles in the brain are considered hallmarks of AD.**
**AD begins slowly. At first, the only symptom may be mild forgetfulness. People with AD may have trouble remembering recent events, activities, or the names of familiar people or things. Simple math problems may become hard to solve. Such difficulties may be a bother, but usually they are not serious enough to cause alarm.
However, as the disease goes on, symptoms are more easily noticed and become serious enough to cause people with AD or their family members to seek medical help. For example, people in the later stages of AD may forget how to do simple tasks, like brushing their teeth or combing their hair. They can no longer think clearly. They begin to have problems speaking, understanding, reading, or writing. Later on, people with AD may become anxious or aggressive, or wander away from home. Eventually, patients need total care.**
**An early, accurate diagnosis of AD helps patients and their families plan for the future.
It gives them time to discuss care options while the patient can still take part in making decisions. Early diagnosis also offers the best chance to treat the symptoms of the disease.
Today, the only definite way to diagnose AD is to find out whether there are plaques and tangles in brain tissue. To look at brain tissue, doctors must wait until they do an autopsy, which is an examination of the body done after a person dies. Therefore, doctors must make a diagnosis of "possible" or "probable" AD.
At specialized centers, doctors can diagnose AD correctly up to 90 percent of the time. Doctors use several tools to diagnose "probable" AD:
A complete medical history includes information about the person's general health, past medical problems, and any difficulties the person has carrying out daily activities.
Medical tests – such as tests of blood, urine, or spinal fluid – help the doctor find other possible diseases causing the symptoms.
Neuropsychological tests measure memory, problem solving, attention, counting, and language.
Brain scans allow the doctor to look at a picture of the brain to see if anything does not look normal.
Information from the medical history and test results help the doctor rule out other possible causes of the person's symptoms. For example, thyroid problems, drug reactions, depression, brain tumors, and blood vessel disease in the brain can cause AD-like symptoms. Some of these other conditions can be treated successfully.
Recently, scientists have focused on a type of memory change called mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI is different from both AD and normal age-related memory change. People with MCI have ongoing memory problems but do not have other losses like confusion, attention problems, and difficulty with language. Scientists funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) are conducting the Memory Impairment Study to learn whether early diagnosis and treatment of MCI might prevent or slow further memory loss, including the development of AD.**
These are only a few of the facts about Alzheimer's disease... below you will find links to many wonderful sites which contain information concerning AD.
I am a proud member of the Divas of the Net Causes for Alzheimers. Click here for more links.
This site was written by a daughter who cared for her mom for 4 years after she was bedridden with Alzheimer's! It is a story of inspiration, faith and hope for all caregivers!
This site is by a man suffering from Alzheimer's and will give you a look into the mind of one who is traveling through it! Tim Brennan is a true inspiration to all who encounter him!
Sources of information on Alzheimer's disease
