Alzheimer's
is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other
intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's
disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases.
Alzheimer's
is not a normal part of aging, although the greatest known risk factor is
increasing age, and the majority of people with Alzheimer's are 65 and older.
But Alzheimer's is not just a disease of old age. Up to 5 percent of people
with the disease have early onset Alzheimer's (also known as younger-onset),
which often appears when someone is in their 40s or 50s.
Although Alzheimer's disease develops differently for every individual,
there are many common symptoms.Early symptoms are often mistakenly thought to
be 'age-related' concerns, or manifestations of stress. In the early
stages, the most common symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events.
When AD is suspected, the diagnosis is usually confirmed with tests that
evaluate behaviour and thinking abilities, often followed by a brain
scan if available. As the disease advances, symptoms can include confusion,
irritability, aggression, mood swings, trouble with language, and long-term
memory loss. As the sufferer declines they often withdraw from family and
society. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death.Since
the disease is different for each individual, predicting how it will
affect the person is difficult. AD develops for an unknown and variable
amount of time before becoming fully apparent, and it can progress undiagnosed
for years. On average, the life expectancy following diagnosis is approximately
seven years.Fewer than three percent of individuals live more than fourteen
years after diagnosis.
Alzheimer's worsens over time. Alzheimer's
is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a
number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage
Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and
respond to their environment. Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death
in the United States. Those with Alzheimer's live an average of eight years
after their symptoms become noticeable to others, but survival can range from
four to 20 years, depending on age and other health conditions.
Alzheimer's has no current cure, but treatments for symptoms are
available and research continues. Although
current Alzheimer's treatments cannot stop Alzheimer's from progressing, they
can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve quality of
life for those with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. Today, there is a
worldwide effort under way to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its
onset, and prevent it from developing.
No comments:
Post a Comment