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Posts Tagged ‘Alzheimer’s Disease’

The causes of Alzheimer’s disease is unknown, but their symptoms are real: loss of memory and the ability to reason and communicate, sudden changes in behavior, loss of urinary control and physical functions like walking or sitting, and eventually total dependence.

People who suffer from this devastating ill have a buildup of a sticky substance called amyloid-protein from the A-beta, which accumulates around nerve cells and blood vessels in the brain. Healthy cells throughout the body produces this substance, but in people with Alzheimer produce more of what the brain can control. The greater the amount of amyloid, the greater the degree of dementia or loss of ability to think, remember and reason.

While cholesterol is a substance the body needs to form cell membranes, some hormones and tissues, studies suggest that certain forms of cholesterol promote the production of a protein that is the main component of amyloid in the brain.

What is believed to be the trigger of atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s is unable to be tested. The expectation is that a good cardiovascular circulation have a detoxifying effect on the brain.

The pharmaceutical industries are trying to develop drugs that inhibit the production of protein A-beta or facilitate the removal of invasive brain amyloid.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of clinical disease is based on the presence in the patient of the following elements:

• Sudden onset and progressively worsening.
• Presence of impairment of memory, especially recent memory, especially at the onset of the disease.
• The neurological examination is negative for abnormal gait, incoordination of movements or abnormal reflexes.

Treatment

There is no cure for this disease. The drug treatment is aimed at treating some symptoms of the patient (anxiety, agitation, insomnia, depression) in order to reduce the disruption caused by the disease.

If you are a person in charge of caring for a patient with Alzheimer’s disease and this administer the medication, remember that:

• No change in dose of a drug (either increase or decrease) only if the doctor explicitly.
• Store medicines in a cool, dry and protected from light and keep the patient out of reach, preferably locked, since the person can take more dosages of the prescription by the doctor, with consequent danger of intoxication.
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General
Disease characterized by the onset of mental disorders such as persecutory delusions, memory impairment, temporal and spatial disorientation, problems with language comprehension, memory loss and desultory conversation.

Alzheimer’s disease usually strikes people over age 65 but can also affect younger people. It is often accompanied by cerebral symptoms such as altered gait, coordination of movements or changes in reflexes.

Main symptoms

During the first two years with Alzheimer’s disease, patients suffer from disorientation and memory loss of recent events. Later, the patient will have frequent problems due to progressive memory loss, trial, concentration, speech, and physical coordination. This is the stage during which the patient may forget to bathe and have problems with activities that previously you were routine. Eventually, either the patient’s family and / or their caregivers have to constantly monitor the patient because of their tendency to move away and get lost, and senseless act in socially inappropriate ways.

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