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The mysteries of the brain...  |
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Bea Gorman’s life story about living with familial Alzheimers.  |
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Alzheimer's accounts for more than half of all organically caused memory loss and it is the fourth leading cause of death in the aged following heart disease, cancer and stroke. At present there is no known cause or cure. The disease can linger from 2 to 25 years before death results.
Alzheimer's causes a global loss of intellectual abilities which is severe enough to interfere with daily functioning. Initial symptoms are subtle; the person may show signs of personality change, memory loss, poor judgment, have less initiative, be unable to learn new things, have mood swings or become easily agitated. Gradually, as the disease progresses, the victim develops speech and language problems, movement and coordination difficulties, total confusion and disorientation, and will ultimately rely completely on a caregiver for daily functioning.
Although in the early stages of Alzheimer's the victim may appear completely healthy, teh damage is slowly destroying the brain cells. This hidden process damages teh brain in several ways: * Patches of brain cells degenerate (neuritic plaques).
* Nerve endings that transmit messages within the brain become tangled (neurofibrillary tangles).
* There is a reduction in acetylcholine, an important brain chemical.
* Spaces in the brain (ventricles become larger and filled with a granular fluid).
* The size and shape of the brain alters. The cortex appears to shrink and decay.
Understandably, as the brain continues to degenerate, there is a comparable loss in mental functioning. Since the brain controls all of our bodily functions, an Alzheimer victim in the later stages will have difficulty walking, talking, swallowing, controlling bladder and bowels functions, etc. They become quite frail and prone to infections such as pneumonia. To complicate matters further, there are numerous conditions which mimic Alzheimer's disease. Conditions such as stroke, vascular diseases, toxins, nutritional deficiencies, infections, etc. can all have symptoms that mimic Alzheimer's. For this very reason it is most important that a thorough examination be done in order to rule out any treatable condition. Home * Diagnose * Research * Treatment * About Us * Newsletter * Store * Donate * News * Contact Us *
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