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.
• If the patient is given drugs to keep awake, to be administered in the morning and not at night because they can cause sleeplessness (insomnia).
• If the patient receives medicine for sleep (sedatives or hypnotics) or muscle relaxants should be given at night, otherwise the patient will spend sleepy during the day.
• The hours that they should not administer medication must meet the convenience of the caregiver, but the patient’s needs, taking into account the time you get up, hours of meals and the time at which lying down, make a list of the medications you are managing the patient, the schedule with which it must manage, if you have questions about how to administer medicines to your family, ask a pharmacist.
• If the patient tolerates the drug well, before stopping, call your doctor.
• It is important not to stop giving medication if the patient feels well, follow the label directions and administer always at the right time.
• o not give other medications different from what the doctor ordered for the patient, even prescription medicines or herbal remedies.

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.

Patients with Alzheimer’s disease may also suffer from insomnia, confusion or nervousness during the hours of the night, and repeat the same ideas, movements, words or thoughts. The final and most advanced stage of the disease include severe problems with feeding, communication and control of basic functions.