eleven percent of persons sixty-five and older suffer from this disease. Once the age of eighty-five has been reached, that grows to an alarming thirty percent. The disease that was once thought to be a natural part of the aging process is in fact, a severe and debilitating form of mental dementia. Unlike the other types of dementia that are treatable, there are no cures for the Alzheimer patients. The only care we can offer is by way of providing the best we can for the individual needs of the patient and offering family support.
             The lifespan of patients with Alzheimer's can range from as few as three years, to as many as fifteen. The progression of the disease is not always the same from one patient to another and the stages may vary from one person to another. Depending on the level of progression and the needs of the patient, a range of medication can be uses to lift depression, anxiety and behavior problems. Some drugs are used to improve or at least slow down the loss of short-term memory and cognition, but these do not treat the actual disease itself.
             Exactly what causes Alzheimer's is still a mystery. Researchers believe that high blood pressure; high cholesterol levels and other cardiovascular problems may contribute to the development of this disease. Other factors that may increase the likelihood of developing the disease are thought to include age, heredity, environment and nutritional values. Researchers have also found that genetics may play a promising role, but ongoing research is being conducted to learn more about the family history of patients and the probability of the disease in future generations. It is thought that people, who carry the gene described as the apolipoprotein E gene in the nineteenth chromosome, are several times more likely to develop Alzheimer's then those who carry the other version of the apoE gene. Women are more likely to develop the disease then men, mainly becau...