In order to understand what Alzheimer’s disease is, it is important to first understand what Dementia is. Dementia is basically loss of certain functions of brain that might occur with certain other diseases. Alzheimer’s disease is primarily a part or a form of this disease and it gets worsened as it progresses. Over the time, this disease affects a person’s thinking, memory as well as behavior.
Causes of Alzheimer’s disease
The risk of Alzheimer’s disease increases due to certain reasons. Although the continuous research is going on to understand what causes this disease actually, but as of now, in the layman’s terms, following causes of Alzheimer’s disease have been found out:
- Age
- Family history
- Down ’s syndrome
- Head injuries or Whiplash
- Gender
- Aluminum
- Atrial fibrillation
- Mild cognitive impairment
- Risk factors for heart disease
- Academic levels
- Fertilizers and processed foods
- Certain other strokes or diseases
Some of these causes might seem absolutely absurd but are very much associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer's disease
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
There are certain symptoms that might prompt you to visit the doctor and get the disease diagnosed. These symptoms are mostly associated with the mental health and brain. These symptoms have been listed in the order of the severity of this disease.
- Forgetting recent happenings
- Difficulty in performing in more than one activity
- Taking a lot of time in solving difficult activities
- Language problems
- Misplacing items too often
- Forgetting familiar routes
- Change in personality
- Losing interest in activities that were once enjoyable
- Losing awareness about yourself
- Changing patterns of sleep
- Difficulty in writing or reading
- Poor judgment
- Withdrawal from social life
- Facing hallucinations and violent behavior
- Depression, agitation and delusions
- Not understanding the language at all
- Not recognizing the family
- Lack of ability to perform even the basic activities like bathing, dressing and eating
Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
As of now, no proper and full-fledged cure for Alzheimer’s disease has been found out. However, there are certain medicines that help in controlling the symptoms of this disease. These treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are:
- Cholinesterace inhibitors
- Namenda
- Treatment options for depression, anxiety and psychosis
- Potential treatment
- Prescription assistance programs
All these treatments can only be called as “alternate treatments” because there is no direct treatment available for Alzheimer’s disease.