Alzheimer's Disease Cause, Alheimer's Symptoms, Alheimer's Treatment

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE was brought to attention in 1906 by a German neurologist Alois Alzheimer, who discovered some curious microscopic changes in the brain of a deceased patient with advanced dementia.

"Dear Mr. Spelling, I forgot to do my homework again because I'm suffering from Alzheimer's".

No one knows what causes this illness but what we do know today is that it mainly affects persons over 60 years old and leads to microscopic scarring of their brains and loss of brain weight. This accelerated loss of brain cells is like losing chips in your computer. It leads to poor function of brain dependent activities.

The person with Alzheimer's has problems with memory, deep thought, movement, logic, writing, and/or knowing where and who s/he is to different degrees - which worsens with time.

One major advance in treating Alzheimer's is finding from studies that the brains of these patients produce less than normal amounts of a chemical called acetylcholine. Current therapy therefore involve artificially raising the level of this chemical through targeted medications.

Alzheimer's is diagnosed clinically by noting a progressive deterioration in mental function after 60 and scoring poorly on a test called the Mini Mental Status Examination - a standardized test comprising a series of questions and skills the person in question should be able to answer with normal brain function.

Life expectancy after diagnosis is 10 to twenty years.

Alzheimer's Research

 

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