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About Memory Disorders Frequently Asked Questions:
What is dementia? Dementia is a long-term, usually permanent condition that causes a slow degeneration in brain function. The brain functions affected depend on the type of dementia. For instance, in dementia from Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss is usually a major feature while in other types of dementia, speech or emotional problems can be the main deficit. Most forms of dementia involve more than one area of brain function. What is Alzheimer’s disease? Alzheimer’s disease is the leading form of dementia, and often occurs in mid and late life. The patient's memory, thinking and behavior are affected because specific brain cells no longer work. As time passes, Alzheimer’s disease gets steadily worse. At the present time, there is no cure. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that more than 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease and 100,000 die of it each year. Many individuals show early signs of the disease when they are in their 60s or early 70s. Some people fear that occasional forgetfulness, such as misplacing keys or not remembering a name, is a sign of Alzheimer’s disease. However, this kind of ordinary memory loss does not mean that a person has Alzheimer’s disease. In the beginning, memory problems in Alzheimer’s disease are mild, but in time they begin to affect the lives of the people who have it. They slowly lose their ability to work or function normally. They forget easily. They often repeat the same questions, even after hearing the answer. They lose things. They forget how to get home, where they are, or how they got there. They begin having trouble with speech, judgment, problem solving and adding and subtracting numbers. Their mood may change suddenly. They can go from being calm to angry and back again in minutes and for no apparent reason. It is very hard for family members or caregivers to deal with these behaviors. For more information on caring for persons with Alzheimer’s, see the section on Caregiving. How is Alzheimer’s disease different from normal aging? Alzheimer’s disease causes an abnormal loss of function. The loss of function is caused by certain areas of the patient’s brain slowly getting worse over time. Doctors look for these specific abnormal findings in the brain so that they can be sure that the patient has Alzheimer’s disease. In normal aging, there is some mild and progressive memory loss. There are also minor problems in other types of brain function. It may take longer for the person to answer a simple question. If these losses do not affect a person's level of personal and social function, then they are viewed as normal. However, in Alzheimer’s disease, there is a pattern of problems. These problems can include short-term memory loss, as well as speech and vision deficits. This leads to the loss of personal and social skills. Over time the patient loses the ability to do activities of daily living. It is hard for the patient to shop or write a letter. Eventually, the patient cannot do basic things like taking a bath and eating. Who is likely to get Alzheimer’s disease? Age is the major risk factor. The older a person gets, the more likely he is to develop the disease. About 7% of all people over 65 and around half of persons over 85 develop Alzheimer’s disease. In rare cases, people younger than 60 get the disease. This usually occurs in people who have a family member with the disease. There are at least 3 genes that can cause Alzheimer’s disease. In persons older than 60, two other altered genes are risk factors. They are ApoE4 and alpha-2 macroglobulin. These genes do not cause the disease but may increase the chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease. How is Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed? Alzheimer’s disease is just one of several forms of dementia. Doctors rule out other causes of dementia, particularly those that are treatable. These other diseases can often look like Alzheimer’s disease. To find out if a patient has Alzheimer’s disease, doctors:
Sometimes the doctor will order a special brain scan. This will help rule out other diseases that look like Alzheimer’s disease and can be treated. Using all of these tests helps the doctor to be about 90% accurate in knowing if the reason for the person’s memory loss is Alzheimer’s disease. Is there a cure for Alzheimer’s disease? Although a good deal of research time and money is being spent to learn about various treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, we do not have a cure at this time. If there is no cure, is there anything I can do to help prevent getting Alzheimer's disease? Age is the major risk factor for AD, and we all must grow older. But there are a few things we can do to help prevent AD.
The Alzheimer's Association "Maintain Your Brain" initiative provides the latest guidelines from the National Institutes of Health on what your numbers should be for blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and weight. Click here to find out if you are at risk. How is Alzheimer’s disease usually treated? There are two major groups of drugs used in management of AD. First are drugs that work to stabilize the cognitive decline. In early to moderate stages of AD, the most commonly used type of drugs are known as cholinesterase inhibitors that include donepezil (Aricept®), approved in 1996; rivastigmine (Exelon®), approved in 2000; and galantamine (Reminyl®), approved in 2001. A new drug, memantine (Namenda), was approved in January 2004 for use in the middle to late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. In research testing, those persons who took memantine showed slight improvement in cognitive activities, behavior, and activities of daily living compared to those who did not take the drug. Because there is no known cure for the disease, patients are also treated to relieve additional symptoms, as needed. Specific medicines can sometime help symptoms such as depression, restlessness, problems sleeping, and seeing things that aren’t there. Cures have been found for many other diseases. The only hope for finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is research. Research will help find out what causes the disease and how to cure it. If someone in my family has Alzheimer’s disease, does that mean I will get it as well? No. If someone in your family has the disease you may have a greater chance of getting it. However, many people who have the disease in their family do not get it themselves. Scientists do not yet know what causes the disease. They do not know exactly which factors in a person's life leads to getting the disease. Also, older people are sometimes labeled with Alzheimer’s disease even when they do not have it, so you may think it is in your family when it is not. I've heard about gingko biloba supplements as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Is there any evidence that this treatment is effective? There is no proof that gingko biloba can cure or prevent Alzheimer’s disease. A study in 1997 showed a slight slowing of thinking problems in some patients with mild to moderately severe memory loss. There are possible side effects to gingko biloba. One of the side effects is excessive bleeding, especially when used with aspirin. You should ask your doctor before trying gingko biloba for yourself or someone you care for. Also note that gingko biloba, like other dietary and herbal supplements, are not regulated by the government. This means that you do not know how much of the extract you are actually getting in each pill or capsule. Other studies of gingko biloba are currently on going. I've heard about Vitamin E as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Is there any evidence that this treatment is effective? Studies have shown that Vitamin E can slow memory problems in some patients with moderately severe memory loss. There is no proof that Vitamin E can cure or prevent Alzheimer’s disease. You should ask your doctor before trying Vitamin E for yourself or someone you care for. What are the usual ways of treating Alzheimer’s disease patients other than drugs or supplements? Caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease involves more than drugs or supplements. The disease may last 2 to 10 years or more. In later stages, patients often need round-the-clock care for even the simplest daily activities. The patient must live in a safe, familiar environment. The patient needs close supervision from aides or family members. A very important part of the treatment plan is talking with the patient’s doctor, nurse, social worker or even the patient’s attorney. A variety of ways to manage the patient’s behavior are used depending on what the patient is doing. As the disease progresses other symptoms are treated as they occur. Attention to the difficulties and demands of caregiving are usually included in a patient's treatment plan since it is just as important to keep the caregiver healthy. What is the goal of treatment for Alzheimer’s disease? Currently, attention to the patient’s and caregiver’s quality of life is the main focus of Alzheimer’s disease treatment. Since there is no cure, one goal might be to slow the disease down. Keeping a patient happy and comfortable might be another. As stated above, the caregiver's health is also very importance. What other diseases cause dementia besides Alzheimer’s disease? Although Alzheimer’s disease causes 60-80% of dementia, there are other diseases that cause dementia. Frontal dementia causes approximately 10% of dementia and usually occurs at ages 60 to 70. Frontal dementia often begins with personality, behavior, or language changes followed by memory changes. This is the opposite of the usual course for Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia with Lewy bodies causes approximately 10% of dementia and usually occurs between ages 60 to 80. Dementia with Lewy Bodies has symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s disease but often includes delusions and delirium early in the disease. Ischemic vascular dementia causes approximately 5% of dementia and can occur at any age since it is associated with stroke. If a portion of the brain important to thinking is deprived of blood flow, symptoms of dementia can follow. Depression causes approximately 10-20% of dementia and can occur at any age. The symptoms are similar to Alzheimer’s disease but often the patient's complaints of memory loss exceed memory loss measured objectively. A positive response to drugs that treat depression is a clue that depression may be the cause of the dementia. Other diseases that cause dementia are Huntington's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Parkinson's disease, and Cortico-basilar degeneration. Most of these diseases have a more rapid progressive nature. The information provided above was taken from multiple sites. The sites are listed below. |
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