Alzheimer's disease is a form of a mental disorder that is also known as "dementia", a brain disorder that affects and seriously impedes the brain's ability to process rational or normal thought. This usually results in limiting the amount of daily activities that require the use of cognitive abilities of its sufferers. Alzheimer's is a debilitating disease because it affects the part of the brain that is responsible for thought, memory, and language.
Alzheimer's is especially one of the most disabling diseases that can affect the older population. What makes Alzheimer's disease a very serious affliction is that it is a progressive disorder that can slowly kill the irreplaceable nerve cells in the brain. Although Alzheimer's is detected more often among patients over 60 years old, there are some individuals as young as 50 years of age who can show signs of Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's disease holds no boundaries. It can equally affect people of different cultures and is found to afflict both males and females in equal proportions. Not one particular test is known to be used for diagnosing Alzheimer's. A variety of methods and tests are being used to diagnose 90 percent of Alzheimer's cases. A 100 percent accuracy in diagnosing the disease can only be achieved upon autopsy to check for plaques and tangles in the sufferer's brain.
The root cause of Alzheimer's disease is not yet quite well understood despite the many years of research on the debilitating condition. Alzheimer's is a complex disease that can be caused by a number of different influences.
The main cause of Alzheimer's disease that researchers today have found out is damaged brain cells that die for unknown reasons. The cause of Alzheimer's disease, which was first isolated by the German neurologist Dr. Alois Alzheimer, is the abnormal clumping together of brain cells. These clumps, also known as plaques, and knots or tangles which disrupt normal brain functioning, are considered as the main definitive characteristics of Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's Disease and Its Cause
Genetics are also being studied as a possible cause of Alzheimer's disease. Another possible cause of the disease is seen to be a slow developing viral infection that results in brain inflammation. Although the actual cause of Alzheimer's disease may not yet be known and still in the discovery stages, there are a number of risk factors that is known to increase the likelihood of Alzheimer development.
Age is known as a risk cause of Alzheimer's disease. As a person ages, the likelihood that he or she will develop Alzheimer's also increases. The average age of diagnosis for Alzheimer's is about 80 years old. Gender is also seen as involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease, but studies for this may still be inconclusive. The reason as to why the risk is seen to be greater in women is that they tend to live longer than the men.
Hereditary tendency is being looked into as another risk cause of Alzheimer's disease. The presence of some defective genes and genetic mutations within the same bloodlines has also been seen to increase the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Another possible cause of Alzheimer's disease that is being looked into is the malfunction of the immune system and protein imbalances that occur in the brain. Certain environmental factors such as the presence of aluminum in the home or workplace are also being put under investigation as a possible cause of Alzheimer's disease.
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Alzheimer's is a disease that robs millions of people each year of their memories, their personalities, and the ability to complete daily activities. The disease can greatly affect the quality of life of every sufferer as well as those people around him, most especially immediate family members.
For a long time, most people believe that there is nothing that could be done to prevent this awful disease. People came to accept it as a result of deteriorating of mental abilities due to age. It was considered as simply something that people had to cope up with when approaching their golden years of life. But doctors today have discovered and now consider Alzheimer's as a disease that can be treated up to a certain extent.
The hallmark sign associated with Alzheimer's disease is the gradual loss of memory especially in people of 65 years and older. Although forgetfulness is a sign of the said disease, it should also be noted that there are other signs that may also indicate the onset of this ailment. Before coming up with your own conclusions, it is best to know more about Alzheimer's through its exhibited signs, how it can be diagnosed and how it will eventually affects the sufferer.
Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can be done through a series of tests. The patient exhibiting some signs of the disease must undergo a variety of laboratory tests, such as physical and mental assessments. As of late, there is no known single test available that will effectively diagnose Alzheimer's in patients.
But with recent developments and advances in the medical field, doctors have been able to devise a set of Alzheimer's disease testing tools that can help in effectively detect symptoms of the disease in its earlier stages.
As of yet, there is no single definitive test that is able to determine if one has Alzheimer's disease. But it is really a battery of testing that is available that makes it possible for physicians to diagnose Alzheimer's with about 90 percent accuracy. Such battery of tests can take anywhere from one day to several weeks in order to ensure accuracy and the proper diagnosis.
Among the various tests available there is one set of tests that has recently been developed that will further help make diagnosing Alzheimer's disease easier. A professor of psychology at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has developed a new tool for testing called the Seven Minute Screen that can test people for the early signs of Alzheimer's disease as well as other forms of dementia.
The said test, developed by Paul Solomon, is actually a set of four tests that can be administered to patients in just less than ten minutes, can also be completed on average of just seven minutes and forty three seconds. What makes the said test even more convenient is that it can be administered by any medical professional with just over an hour of basic training.
The short time that it takes for completing the whole test is an attractive option for doctors who may not have the luxury of time when they are diagnosing patients with Alzheimer's.
This type of test is just a part of a much larger effort by medical researchers to develop better ways of detecting Alzheimer's early. A likely option that some researchers are trying to look into is the use of brain scanning technology such as magnetic resonance imaging or MRI to identify even the smallest damage to the brain before any impairment in cognitive ability ever show up in people likely to develop Alzheimer's. Other possible approaches being studied involve looking for gene abnormalities in patients that have been linked to Alzheimer's disease.
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