| Alzheimer?s is a devastating disease that robs | | | | with abstract thinking, misplacing things, changes in |
| individuals of their memories, ability to recognize their | | | | mood or behavior, changes in personality and loss of |
| loved ones or even to complete simple tasks for | | | | initiative. ?You don?t need to have a doctorate |
| themselves, but there are treatments available to | | | | degree to know something is wrong,? Ms. Marcell |
| help slow the course of Alzheimer?s disease and | | | | writes in her blog, ?but you do need a doctor who |
| researchers are working hard to find a cure. | | | | can diagnose and treat (Alzheimer?s) properly.? |
| Alzheimer?s disease is considered a condition of the | | | | Right now the aim of treatment is to slow or mask |
| elderly affecting mostly those over the age of 65. | | | | the cognitive deterioration caused by the disease and |
| While there are so called early onset cases that | | | | to increase the brains ability to think, recognize, |
| occur in younger adults they are rare. 23,000 people | | | | perceive and judge. Treatment is also helpful in |
| die each year in the United States from Alzheimer?s | | | | reducing the behavioral problems associated with the |
| disease. It is the leading cause of dementia, making it | | | | more advanced stages of the disease. The side |
| the eighth leading cause of death among older | | | | effects for the most commonly used medications: |
| Americans. Though there is currently no cure for the | | | | Aricept, Cognex, Exelon and Namenda can include |
| condition, understanding the progress of the disease | | | | nausea and vomiting, liver damage, psychiatric |
| can help researchers, care-giving family members and | | | | disturbances, weight loss, tremor, sore muscles, |
| those afflicted. | | | | fatigue, dizziness and urinary tract problems. |
| The disease is hallmarked by atrophy, or shrinking, of | | | | Razadyne is the exception; though there are risks for |
| the cortical tissues in the brain. In people with | | | | nausea and vomiting and a few other problematic |
| Alzheimer?s disease nerve cells become bunched | | | | symptoms, no serious side effects have been |
| together forming tangled webs of brain tissue | | | | reported. |
| filaments (neurofibrillary tangles) and near these | | | | Some treatments work better than others and |
| tangles patches of cellular debris, called senile plaques, | | | | differently for different patients, so every patient |
| are found. Plaques are made up of dead cells and | | | | needs to have their symptoms and treatment |
| proteins. It is believed that these brain abnormalities | | | | responses reevaluated frequently. Flexible, supervised |
| cause a disruption of the electrical impulses in the | | | | care from a knowledgeable physician is of paramount |
| brain. As more and more tangles and plaques collect | | | | importance. |
| in the brain the body receives fewer and fewer | | | | Alzheimer?s disease isn?t curable but there are |
| messages from it and the person?s ability to function | | | | treatments that can slow its progress and promising |
| deteriorates. | | | | research that may one day lead to a cure. |
| According to Elder Rage author and radio host | | | | Understanding the stages of the disease and its |
| Jacqueline Marcell the warning signs of the affliction | | | | progression can help those who are afflicted, their |
| include: memory loss, difficulty performing familiar | | | | loved ones and researchers ensure the best |
| tasks, problems with language, disorientation to time | | | | treatment now and promote hope for the future. |
| and place, poor or decreased judgment, problems | | | | |