Alzheimer Disease

When a person is aging, it must expect a decline in intellectual faculties and of his memory, but when this decline is much faster than the normal, the consequences can be disastrous for this person and his relatives. Such rapid decline is known as dementia.
Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the death of neurons, the brain cells. This cell death is amplified as the disease is getting worse, and can result in the loss of certain functions such as memory, reasoning, language, the judgment and the mood.

The causes

a combination of factors specific to each individual could be at the origin of Alzheimer's disease. Among the factors which increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, note: the age, genetic factors, cranial trauma, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, metabolic syndrome, non-controlled hypertension and diabetes. To understand how these factors operate, the researchers are continuing their research at different levels:

The family history. Alzheimer's disease may develop among all individuals and only one member of the same family can be reached. By contrast, if a family member is reached, this double or even triple the risk of developing the disease for the rest of the family.

The human body: to determine if the Alzheimer's disease has been caused by a chemical imbalance, an accumulation in the brain of toxic substances for the neurons (amyloid plaques, free radicals), or of an immune deficit.

The new therapeutic approaches: they aim to slow or even halt the progression of the disease and prevent the disease even before the symptoms do their emergence.

The symptoms

1. Memory Loss that interferes with daily activities of the person
the most common and often the first symptoms is the loss of memory. Although the loss of memory can be slight at the beginning, it is more important than the small usual oversights. A person with Alzheimer Disease may forget frequently, particularly the events that have occurred recently.

2. Difficulties to do familiar tasks
The person with Alzheimer Disease may have difficulty performing familiar tasks that it has performed all of his life, such as preparing a meal. She may have difficulty to use of household appliances.

3. Problems with language
a person with Alzheimer Disease may forget easy words or substitute words which will make the sentences difficult to understand. It also happened that the person uses an incorrect word of same sounding that the correct word (for example lion in place of violin).

4. Loss of the orientation (time and space)
it may happen that a person with Alzheimer Disease can become lost on their own street, not knowing how they got there or how to go back home. It may wander for several hours in his neighborhood. It is also possible that it has difficulty to appoint the date of the day.

5. Judgment diminished
a person with Alzheimer Disease may have a decreased judgment and, for example, does not recognize a health problem which need to be treated or wear warm clothes in full heatwave.

6. Difficulties to execute a abstract task
a person with Alzheimer Disease may have significant difficulties to accomplish some abstract tasks, for example, understand the figures indicated in his check-book or on a tax form, schedule a metro journey, requiring one or more matches.

7. Objects lost
a person with Alzheimer Disease may store objects in inappropriate places (an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl).

8. Changes in mood or behavior
a person with Alzheimer Disease may change of mood very quickly, for example, it could go from calm to tears to anger without apparent reason.

9. Changes in the personality
the person with Alzheimer Disease can become confused, enclosed and suspicious. The number of possible changes, also include apathy, fear and behaviors which are unusual.

10. Loss of interest
a person with Alzheimer Disease may become very passive, and may need much encouragement to take part in the activities.