Overview

Alzheimer's is a degenerative brain disease associated with decline in memory or other cognitive skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities.

Symptoms

The characteristic symptoms of dementia are difficulties with memory, language, problem-solving and other cognitive skills that affect a person’s ability to perform everyday activities.

Causes

Alzheimer's Disease:-
Progressive accumulation of the protein fragment beta-amyloid (plaques) outside neurons in the brain and twisted strands of the protein tau (tangles) inside neurons. These changes are eventually accompanied by the damage and death of neurons.
Vascular Dementia:-
Vascular dementia occurs most commonly from blood vessel blockage or damage leading to infarcts (strokes) or bleeding in the brain. The location, number and size of the brain injuries determine whether dementia will result and how the individual’s thinking and physical functioning will be affected.

Diagnosis

There is no single test for Alzheimer’s dementia. Instead, physicians (often with the help of specialists such as neurologists and geriatricians) use a variety of approaches and tools to help make a diagnosis.
They include the following:

• Obtaining a medical and family history from the individual, including psychiatric history and history of cognitive and behavioral changes.
• Asking a family member to provide input about changes in thinking skills and behavior.
• Conducting cognitive tests and physical and neurologic examinations.
• Having the individual undergo blood tests and brain imaging to rule out other potential causes of dementia symptoms, such as a tumor or certain vitamin deficiencies.

Prevention

Aerobic exercise,mental activity and social engagement may help in prevention.

Prevention of stroke and minimization of vascular risk factors through control of blood pressure and diabetes as well as smoking cessation may prevent the disease

Treatment

Donepezil, Memantine, Rivastigmine molecules used / Life style changes:- Avoid Brain injury, Eating balanced and Healthy Diet, Get Quality Sleep, staying socially engaged, having good cardiovascular health

Everyday Life

As the disease progresses the cognitive impairment gets further hampered but the progression with availeble medicaton and excersize

Resources

www.alz.org

www.donappcommunity.in