Loss of memory and marred thinking are important symptoms of the Alzheimer’s disease. But certain patients are fortunate in one respect, if they are diagnosed early so that they can cope up with the loss of memory and organize their day-to-day life and also plan their future by sharing their thoughts with their beloved ones so that it can be carried out by them.

In initial stages of the Alzheimer’s disease, affected people have soft declination in their mental functioning. For instance, they might read a lot but in the end they will be able to remember only limited information. They might struggle to recall the names or common words which can be observed by their family member or friends. During the middle stage of Alzheimer’s, major problems related to retention and thinking arises. Patients might forget important details like their phone number address and can get baffled about their whereabouts. In the final stages, patients tend to get depressed, agitated and face severe mental delusions. Their ability to command body movements and communicate is totally lost and they get incompetent to respond to their environment. People could live with Alzheimer’s for about 3 to 20 years, but generally they expire after 4-6 years of diagnosis.

According to the data stated by Alzheimer’s association, around 5.3 million citizens in US are prone to have this disease. Early diagnosis helps the infected people to take part in various things in their lives without getting affected much by the disease according to the director of Information services in Chicago’s Alzheimer’s association, A.Kallmyer. He also adds that there is no permanent cure for the disease, but diagnosis can help them fix certain things and make plans to deal with the future.

There are no medicines available to reduce the progression of the disease but certain adjustments could help in enhancing the mental function in the patients on temporary basis. A collection of medicines named cholinesterase inhibitors helps in keeping the levels of acetylcholine and supports communication between the nerve cells but they are effective only for certain people and for particular amount of time. Another type of medicine called Namenda which has memantine to regulate the functioning of glutamate which is a chemical involved in memory retention is suggested for moderate Alzheimer’s.

Daily life can be more challenging for patients with Alzheimer’s since they may remember the events from long past easily but forget the recent events and conversations. They find it hard to keep track of time and important appointments, or remembering the names of the people. There are some suggestions provided by the Alzheimer’s association regarding the coping with memory loss due to disease.

1. Keeping a journal with significant notes in their hand always is a good thing for Alzheimer’s patients. It should contain their address, important phone numbers and emergency contact information. It should also have a map with the location of their home and the “to do” listing of their appointments and other fact they wish to keep in memory.
2. They should be sure to get home quickly if they get lost. Also it is suggested The National Institute on Aging that patients with Alzheimer’s disease should put on an ID strap on their hands that has the name and number of the person who would get them to home.
3. Have a reliable friend to help them recall the time for meals, medication and appointments.
4. Be cautious with electrical gadgets and other appliances in home and have reminders in journal to unplug iron box, turn off the gas stove etc.
5. Label their drawers and cup boards with pictures and words which describer the contents like socks, clothes, dishes etc.

Alzheimer’s also known as AD is a brain disease. The disease progresses slowly and affects the brain. AD would affect the memory and interfere with the ability to plan, reason, perceive and problems with the language as well would be triggered. The cause of the problem is the beta- amyloid; this is a protein, which is responsible for AD. It is when this is accumulated in a certain quantity or if there is an increase in the production of the same would lead to AD. The beta- amyloid kills the nerve cells and that is what triggers the problem.

If you are 70 or more you are likely to be affected by AD as almost 50% of the people in that age group suffer from this but, having said that this is not considered as a part of the process of aging. There are people who are over 100 yrs but they have no trace of AD.

Symptoms Of Alzheimer’s

The most prominent symptoms of alzheimer’s would be relating to the memory problems. Most of the times, the family member of the patient suffering from AD would assume that it is because of the age that the person tends to forget things. It would take some time for the family members to realize that the memory slip symptoms that the person affected is demonstrating are more than normal. Short-term memory is the most common of all symptoms of alzheimer’s. Things like switching on the iron and then completely forgetting about that or forgetting to take the medicines etc could be the examples.

In some cases the symptoms of alzheimer’s would be extended to mild change in the personality as well. This might be during the early stages of the illness. The person with Alzheimer’s disease symptoms would start to withdraw from social interactions would not show spontaneity, apathy when surrounded. As the problem progresses the Alzheimer’s disease symptoms would start to reflect on the intelligence and abstract thinking as well. The things that would require planning, thinking or any kind of brain interference would be hindered. There are chances if this keeps progressing the same way that the person becomes confused and disoriented. The patient demonstrating Alzheimer’s disease symptoms would not have a clue about the date, month or even the year. They would be completely lost. They might wonder aimlessly and they might have erratic moods as well. Bowel and bladder control may be lost. The later stages would be really horrible, as the person would lose the capability to care about himself at all.

The Alzheimer’s disease symptoms would not cause death but the health problems that the symptoms of alzheimer’s would invite would be the cause that a person dies.

Causes Of Alzheimer’s

The causes of AD are not known clearly but the amyloid cascade hypothesis is the most popular hypothesis about the AD problem and is discussed intensively. This supports the increased production or accumulation of beta- amyloid to be the reason but studies are still on to know what triggers the accumulation or the over production.