What is Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease, the most prevalent form of dementia, is a neurodegenerative disease. It represents up to 70 percent of dementia cases.

Alzheimer's has no cure and results in death, typically within 10 years of the diagnosis.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, a term used to describe a group of symptoms affecting intellectual and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning.

Alzheimer's disease occurs in one in ten people over the age of 65. According to recent assessments, the rate of Alzheimer's disease is going to nearly double every 20 years. By 2050, 43 percent of those with Alzheimer's disease will need high-level care, equivalent to that of a nursing home.

Alzheimer's disease is often thought about in three stages:

• Mild Alzheimer's disease (also called early-stage). In mild AD, the first stage, people often have some memory loss and small changes in their personality. They may have trouble remembering recent events or the names of familiar people or things. They may no longer be able to solve simple math problems or balance a checkbook. People with mild AD also slowly lose the ability to plan and organize. For example, they may have trouble making a grocery list and finding items in the store.

• Moderate Alzheimer's disease. This is the middle stage of AD. Memory loss and confusion become more obvious. People have more trouble organizing, planning and following instructions. They may need help getting dressed and may start having problems with incontinence. This means they can't control their bladder and/or bowels. People with moderate-stage AD may have trouble recognizing family members and friends. They may not know where they are or what day or year it is. They also may lack judgment and begin to wander, so people with moderate AD should not be left alone. They may become restless and begin repeating movements late in the day. Also, they may have trouble sleeping. Personality changes can become more serious. People with moderate AD may make threats, accuse others of stealing, curse, kick, hit, bite, scream or grab things.

• Severe Alzheimer's disease (also called late-stage). This is the last stage of Alzheimer's and ends in the death of the person. In this stage, people often need help with all their daily needs. They may not be able to walk or sit up without help. They may not be able to talk and often cannot recognize family members. They may have trouble swallowing and refuse to eat.

Alzheimer's is a common form of dementia (senility) affecting almost five million Americans. As our population ages, this is an area that drug companies believe may be quite profitable, so there is heavy advertising being done for the medication Aricept, which has very minimal to modest benefit.

The only definitive test for diagnosing Alzheimer's is a brain biopsy, which appropriately is not done. Because of this, and because most doctors do not have time to do a proper 30-60 minute evaluation for underlying causes (Medicare pays poorly for visits over about 5 minutes), many elderly folks get a label of Alzheimer's slapped on them and a prescription for Aricept at first sign of confusion, and perhaps a cursory look for other causes of confusion.

With a thorough exam, we frequently find that the person doesn't have Alzheimer's, and that even if they do, even modest improvements in mental function can dramatically improve their ability to function and remember names and people.

As debilitating as Alzheimer's is, people with this disease are able to still have thoughts and ideas although they are not expressed the way the used to be. It's important for us to remember that there still is a person inside, and not assume that because this disease affects the brain that feelings and ideas cease to exist.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a degenerative brain disorder that manifests as a progressive deterioration of memory and mental function, a state of mind commonly referred to as dementia. In the U.S., 5 percent of the population over age 65 suffers from severe dementia, while another 10 percent suffers from mild to moderate dementia. With increasing age, there is a rise in frequency. For example, in people over age 80, the frequency rate for dementia is over 25 percent.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive disorder in which neurons (brain cells) deteriorate resulting in the loss of cognitive (thought) functions, primarily memory, judgment, reasoning, movement coordination, and pattern recognition. In advanced stages of the disease, all memory and mental functioning may be lost.

Alzheimer's disease may cause death; it is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. However, an individual with AD often dies from an additional illness like pneumonia.

According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is a group of disorders that impairs mental functioning. Dementia means loss of the ability to think. Alzheimer's is progressive and irreversible. Abnormal changes in the brain worsen over time, eventually interfering with many aspects of brain function. Memory loss is one of the earliest symptoms, along with a gradual decline of other intellectual and thinking abilities, called cognitive functions, and changes in personality or behavior. Other forms of dementia include vascular dementia (due to a lack of blood flow to the brain), mixed dementia (presence of both Alzheimer's and vascular dementia), and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (rapidly declining memory and cognition due to consumption of cattle with "mad-cow" disease).

Alzheimer's advances in stages, progressing from mild forgetfulness and cognitive impairment to widespread loss of mental abilities. In advanced Alzheimer's, people become dependent on others for every aspect of their care. The time course of the disease varies by individual, ranging from five to 20 years. The most common cause of death is infection.

Age is the most important known risk factor for AD. The number of people with the disease doubles every five years beyond age 65. In the United States, about 10% of people ages 65 and up, and about 50% of people ages 85 and up have AD.

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According to the American Academy of neurology, Alzheimer's disease is an age-related nonreversible brain disorder. It typically progresses over several years and begins with memory loss and confusion. Alzheimer's disease can gradually lead to behavior and personality changes and can also affect decision making and recognition of family and friends. Usually those affected will have more problems with recent memory loss versus long-term memory, which is not as affected.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, or loss of intellectual function, among people aged 65 and older. It is not a normal part of aging.

This progressive, degenerative disorder attacks the brain's nerve cells, or neurons, resulting in loss of memory, thinking and language skills, and behavioral changes.

These neurons, which produce the brain chemical, or neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, break connections with other nerve cells and ultimately die. For example, short-term memory fails when Alzheimer's disease first destroys nerve cells in the hippocampus, and language skills and judgment decline when neurons die in the cerebral cortex.

Two types of abnormal lesions clog the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease: beta-amyloid plaques, sticky clumps of protein fragments and cellular material that form outside and around neurons, and neurofibrillary tangles, insoluble twisted fibers composed largely of the protein tau that build up inside nerve cells. Although these structures are hallmarks of the disease, scientists are unclear whether they cause it or are a by-product of it.

Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disorder that results in memory loss, impaired thinking, difficulty finding the right word when speaking, and personality changes. Its course is marked by a continual loss of neurons (nerve cells) and their connections with other neurons (synapses) that are crucial to memory and other mental functions. In advanced Alzheimer's disease, the dramatic loss of neurons causes the brain to shrink. Levels of many brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which carry complex messages among billions of nerve cells, are also diminished. After the symptoms first appear, people live anywhere from two to 20 years in an increasingly dependent state that exacts a staggering emotional, physical, and economic toll on families.

There is no cure and little that can be done by way of prevention. But early diagnosis is important because drugs are available that may temporarily improve or stabilize worsening of cognitive symptoms, and they work best in the early stages of the disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is a disease of the brain whose cause is not fully understood. It affects people in their later years, through no fault of their own. It gradually takes over, first a few, then more and more areas of a person’s life. It is in fact a disease like no other. It affects nearly six million people in the United States at this time, and that number is going to double in the next twenty years. The reason for this is that more and more people live into their seventies, eighties and nineties, and the prevalence of the disease increases drastically with each advancing decade. Thus, only ten percent of people in their seventies have the disease, but it increases to thirty percent of people in their eighties, and to nearly fifty percent of people in their nineties. Some people have called Alzheimer’s a monster disease, not only because it affects a huge number of people, but also because of what it does to those affected. It gradually eats away layer after layer of human functioning, starting with memory and decision making capacity, and continuing to erode deeper and deeper layers of the personality. It attacks language, judgment, ability to communicate and self-care capacity. Even more vexing than these losses is an accumulation of troublesome behaviors that increase gradually as the disease advances. Effective caregiving is what humanizes this ordeal, both for the person with the disease and the caregiver. Caregiving is what makes it possible to live with this disease rather than be overwhelmed by it.

It is important to realize that Alzheimer’s is a disease, not simply a manifestation of old age. It is a disease in which brain cells die prematurely and progressively, leaving the individual with gradually decreasing abilities in their thinking, feeling and behavior.

Alzheimer's disease damages the brain and causes a steady loss of memory and of how well you can speak, think, and do your daily activities. It gets worse over time, but how quickly this happens varies. There are medicines that may slow down the symptoms for a while and make the disease easier to live with.