The aim of this paper is to educate the community about Alzheimer's disease and to raise awareness in order to prevent deaths and better prepare Alzheimer's disease victims and their families. Therefore, in order to better understand this disease one must first know that is Alzheimer's disease defined based on its causes, symptoms, and treatments.
Alzheimer's is one of the most common causes of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is the atrophy in the brain's healthy cells that lead to slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually the ability to carry out the simplest task. It is an incurable disease, but it is possible live with it by take medication regularly. Alzheimer's disease, named after the doctor who first …show more content…
described it Alois Alzheimer, a German scientist, is a physical disease that affects the brain1.
In the worldwide, nearly 44 million people have Alzheimer's or a related dementia2. The patient with Alzheimer's disease dies within 8 years of diagnosis and in some cases the patients lived 20 years from the date of diagnosis.Men and women are susceptible to Alzheimer's but women is more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease2.
The causes of Alzheimer's disease are unknown until now but one of the following reasons can contribute to it. Progress in age and brain injury are the most common causes of Alzheimer's disease3. The incidence of Alzheimer's disease increases every five years among individuals over the age of 65 and affects about 50% of those over age 85 years. With age, some starchy proteins are deposited in the nerve cells that make up the memory center and causing dysfunction2. Rising incidence rate of Alzheimer's among those who are constantly exposed to brain injuries like boxing players.
There are many symptoms of Alzheimer's.
One of the most common symptom is memory loss3. Forgetting some events and memory loss is normal at older, but frequent memory loss that disrupts person's practical, social and family life like forget recent events, names family members maybe will be one of Alzheimer's symptom. Also, Alzheimer's patient put things in their wrong place and strange places, for example, put his shoes in the refrigerator3. In addition, difficulty in thinking is one of the symptom of Alzheimer's3. An Alzheimer's patient will find more difficult to perform mental functions, as the numbers may be forgotten and the reason for their use4.
In the late stages of Alzheimer's complications occur, which is often the cause of death, such as falling or forgetting something on the stove and the most important complications are the loss of the patient as he may get out of his home and then lost and can not return. Every individual in the family should know how to deal with an Alzheimer's patient well to avoid reach these complications.
There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease but there are treatment aims to slow the progression of the disease and managing behavioral problems, confusion, emotions and providing a safe living environment. Medications of Alzheimer's disease are Cholinesterase inhibitors: memantine and Namenda5. These medications help to slow down the mental deterioration and improve memory and attention, language and ability to perform simple
tasks.