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It’s a well-known fact that an excellent percentage of the elderly experience mental degradation at some stage during the later years of their lives. It’s acknowledged as one of the disadvantages to getting old! However, the majority of people don’t know the very first thing about mental health illnesses and diseases that can take hold of the elderly mind, although some will have heard various names of afflictions being bandied about. Alzheimer’s Disease is probably the most widely recognised, but very little is in fact known about it by individuals who haven’t come into contact with people struggling with it. This article will explain in layman’s terms exactly what Alzheimer’s is as well as what it can do.

Alzheimer’s Disease is regarded as the most common form of dementia in the world. Dementia affects the brain and impedes an individual’s capability to think logically from moment to moment. Sufferers frequently have short-term loss of memory and get frustrated when they cannot remember what happened just moments ago. It seriously impedes a person’s ability to speak and reason, and makes it  impossible to master new things. As the disease progresses, sufferers are rendered unable to take care of themselves physically and often become unsafe in their own homes. Alzheimer’s Disease causes degeneration with the connections involving the brain and local nerve cells, which in turn affects other nerve cells around the body. As a result, the messages the brain sends to the rest of the body do not get relayed properly and communication stops working, hence the confusion of the individual and a loss of mental capacity.

Over 4 million people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in the USA alone. Hardly any people under the age of 65 are affected, and only 5% of men aged between 65 and 74 are affected. However, it’s estimated that almost half of all people aged 75 and above have some kind of dementia, with the majority suffering from Alzheimer’s. It affects both men and women in equal measures. Although the cause of Alzheimer’s is not known, age is often a confirmed factor. The older you happen to be, the more likely it really is that you will develop the disease. It is also believed to be genetic. If a father or mother has Alzheimer’s, the children will develop it in later years than individuals of a similar age that don’t have a family history of it.

Alzheimer’s is often difficult to detect during its initial phases because its symptoms aren’t any different than those seen by seniors who do not develop the disease. Mild confusion and forgetfulness can be dismissed as one of the signs of old age but sometimes also mark the onset of Alzheimer’s. The forgetfulness will gradually become worse, until it begins to alter daily routines and reminders have to be written down or verbally delivered by others. The next phase is a severe inability to do just about anything without help or supervision and can ultimately render the sufferer helpless. Even when the body is willing and in good shape, the mind isn’t.

Aggression is a very common symptom of advanced Alzheimer’s Disease because a person is not really his or herself. The confusion and anxiety that the disease leaves them with 24 hours a day may bring about verbal or violent outbursts that the sufferer does not have any control over. Alzheimer’s sufferers often become a completely different person when the disease progresses into its later stages and thus it is sometimes not really a true reflection of who that person was earlier in his or her life. It can take between three and fifteen years for a person to arrive at this stage though, however it will ultimately result in the loss of life unless other factors intervene.

Unfortunately there is no cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. Various foundations and medical centers are conducting ongoing research in the hope of finding a cure but for now there are only drugs you can use to counterbalance the symptoms during the early to mid stages of the disease. Aricept and Exelon are only a couple of the drugs used, however they will still only hold degeneration at bay for a short time. When they stop working, the illness will progress, as it would have done if the drugs weren’t used in originally. Ultimately, the end result is exactly the same. It’s a disease to cope with, not cure.

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