Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, a medical condition that disrupts the way the brain works. It is a condition of unknown origin that causes gradual loss of abilities in memory, thinking, reasoning, judgment, orientation and concentration. It usually occurs in the elderly population starting around the age of 65 years old. As the individual gets older, the risk of developing AD becomes greater. There are an estimated number of two million victims of this painful disease and the number continues to go up. Even though there is no physical pain associated with this disease, there are a great deal of emotional pain from both family and friends of the patient (Gruetzner 1988). Doctor Alois Alzheimer is whom Alzheimer's Disease is named for. He was the one responsible for the first discovery of the disease in 1906. He had performed an autopsy on a 51-year-old woman who had passed away from what was believed to be an unusual mental illness. She had displayed signs of problems with her memory and disorientation. Upon his surgery, he found abnormal clumps in what is now called senile or neuritic plaques and tangled bundles of fibers called neurofibrillary tangles (Alzheimer Facts). These fibers we
Urine, blood may help to eliminate any other possible diseases. Questions about the person's general health and past medical problems are asked. At first, AD starts off slowly usually lasting about two to four years. The physician will learn about the health of the brain by testing coordination, muscle tone and strength, eye movement, speech and sensation (Alzheimer's Association). With all the technology we have today, it's not uncommon for a doctor to order a brain scan. Usually memory loss becomes more profound and behavior becomes more disturbing, bizarre and unpredictable (Fish 1990). Not all victims are going to display the exact same signs of AD. Usually, doctors wait until the patient has passed away and perform an autopsy. It is also important that any possible problems with carrying out daily activities are present. Doctors use a mixture of basic medical test, neuropsychological test and brain scans to do their best to accurately diagnosis. re found in large numbers in the cytoplasm of nerve cells. Symptoms include, memory loss, confusion and disorientation, speech and language disturbances, impaired judgment, difficulty completing familiar tasks and personality and mood changes. There are specialized centers with doctors that can diagnosis probable AD correctly 80 to 90 percent of the time. With more images of the brain, it is also possible to gain information about blood flow and metabolic activity in various places.
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