Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60% of dementia and it’s fatal.
40% with early-onset Alzheimer’s exhibit apathy about their life and condition.
Dementia is a nonreversible decline in mental function – it’s an umbrella term under which Alzheimer’s falls.
14 million – the number of American’s expected to have Alzheimer’s by 2050.
To be called dementia, the disorder must be severe enough to interfere with daily life according to Constantine George Lyketsos, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center in Baltimore.
Eventually, Alzheimer’s disease takes away the ability to carry out even the simplest tasks.
Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States without a cure.
Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging.
5.7 million – the number of American’s living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s is a specific disease that slowly and irreversibly destroys memory and thinking skills.
Brain cells in the hippocampus are damaged first so a person has trouble forming new memories and more recent memories are lost.
The amygdala in our brains is affected next and since it is the seat of emotions people experience emotional outbursts and inappropriate emotional interactions.
The first step of Alzheimer’s disease is memory loss followed by personality change progressing then into the loss of control of body functions.
The progression of symptoms typically lasts 3 – 20 years with an average of 7 – 8.
Dementia is diagnosed when a doctor or neurologist determines a person has a decline in 2 or 3 cognitive areas. These areas include disorientation, disorganization, language impairment, and memory loss.
Alzheimer’s diagnosis doesn’t rely on a specific test. However, doctors and neurologists rely on observations and ruling out other possibilities. Nuclear medicine aids in diagnosing a patient’s neural health (i.e. an MRI or PET scan).
Verbal learning tests are often used by medical providers to assess a person’s ability to memorize and then recall a list of words or to connect a series of numbers and letters in a complicated sequence.
A doctor or neurologist will add their medical observations to completed evaluations to make a 95% diagnosis accuracy of Alzheimer’s.
HealthDay News (March 14, 2018) gives us some hope for lowering a persons’ risk of developing memory-robbing dementia. New research finds that being physically fit women who do end up with dementia, they tend to get it much later in life – about 10 years later than others.
According to Dr. Ingmar Skoog, director of the Center for Aging and Health at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, high-fitness is good for your blood vessels. Vascular factors have been found to be related to dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. It may have a direct effect on nerve cells in the brain.
James Hendrix, director of global science initiatives for Alzheimer’s Association, believes that even if someone already has dementia the effects of exercise are beneficial. “Alzheimer’s disease isn’t just a disease of memory. There’s some good evidence that other symptoms, like agitation, can be better managed if someone’s active…”
If someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, exercise can be beneficial in slowing the progression of symptoms.
Positive steps to take if someone has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.