What is Alzheimers?
July 26, 2008
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that affects the brain; currently the most common form of dementia among older people. Alzheimer’s disease primarily affects the memory centers of their brain with ten percent of over 65 year olds affected; the diagnosis of the disorder has managed to reach an accuracy of up to ninety four percent. The world started focusing on the disease only about thirty years ago although was first discovered in 1906 by Alois Alzheimer, a German physician; despite a great deal of scientific investigation, not that much is known about this awful disorder.
According to studies, it is advancing age that is the greatest risk to developing Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, the person experiencing the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s will know something is wrong but won’t admit it to others or even to themselves; this can be a difficult time for family members who need to know what is wrong.
Dementia covers quite a broad spectrum of problems but they are all, including Alzheimer’s disease, currently treated in a similar fashion. Unfortunately, because there is still so much that is unknown about the disease, there is no definite way to treat it although some symptoms can be improved or slowed down with drugs. At the moment, three drugs are used routinely to treat sufferers of Alzheimer’s, all of which have been approved by the FDA – Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine; although it will vary from patient to patient, improvements in mental processes have been seen, lasting up to 6 months.
A new drug, Memantine is helping to slow down the mental decline during the later phases and is similar to the anti-influenza treatment Amantadine; this new drug is used on patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s already receiving Donepezil. The side effects of using Memantine are low, and it’s the first drug shown to have an effect on the symptoms of moderate to severe cases; more than 80 percent of the Memantine excreted is unchanged by the kidneys.
Because people are living longer Alzheimer’s disease has become a serious health problem that governments must face; it is a major cause of death in America. The economic cost of treating and providing care for those with this type of aging disease another issue to be addressed; the annual cost of treatment and care for sufferers is in excess of 40 billion dollars and is expected to rise well beyond this in the future. The National Institute on Aging spends half of its annual funding on research into this age related disease; scientists worldwide are seeking a treatment for the disease with a large number of compounds being tested.
One way to help lower the risk of dementia and one that you can have responsibility for is to change how you live by eating healthily and taking regular exercise. In fact researchers believe the happier and healthier someone is with Alzheimer’s, the slower his or her decline. Luckily, early-onset symptoms of this disease are very rare because it primarily affects the elderly; nevertheless, there have been occasional incidences of people contracting it before the age of 60.
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