Alzheimer's was discovered in 1906 by a German Physician, Doctor Alois Alzheimer. One of his patients passed away after discovering problems with the individuals memory, confusion, and difficulty understanding questions. After the autopsy was finished, researchers discovered dense deposits surround the nerve cells in the brain. The nerve cells contained neurofibrillary tangles, which is how Alzheimer's was formulated.(5)
Alzheimer's is the most common form of Dementia; it causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer's accounts for 60 to 80 percent of Dementia cases. The disease worsens over time and there is currently no cure to the disease. Over time, brain cells begin to die, which causes loss of memory and mental function. This is the reason Alzheimer's gets worse over time, because brain cells never regenerate. (1)
Symptoms of Alzheimer's (4)
Memory loss that interferes with everyday activities and carrying out familiar jobs
Struggling with critically thinking and problem solving
Trouble understanding locations and times
Difficulty formulating speech and writing
Misplacing things and being unable to find objects
Poor judgement
Changes in mood and personality
Medical researchers still are unaware of how Alzheimer's begins.(2) However, they have discovered that it affects multiple systems within the human body, mostly affecting areas of the brain.
Systems Affected (3)
Central Nervous System
Amyloid plaques: protiens and dead brain cells that build up in brain tissue.
Changes in intellectual function, personality and mood. This causes a person to act abnormally when critically thinking and formulating sentences.
Forgetfulness of daily schedules. It is difficult for those individuals to plan a schedule and do independent activities. Azlheimer's patients lose their ability to remember meeting and recognizing others whom they have come into contact with previously.
Digestive System
Individuals with Alzheimer's have difficulty swallowing, choking & eating food.
Sense of taste disappears due to an impaired sense of smell.
Neuromuscular System
People lose the ability to walk and maintaining a healthy posture.
Motor skills are impacted causing more frequent accidental injuries.
There is no cure for treatment, but there are some forms of medicines and non-drug related treatments that help with coping with the illness & cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Some types of medication are: Cholinesterase inhibitors and Memantine. These help with memory loss, confusion and problems with reasoning and thinking. (6) For the future: Researchers are primarily focusing on destroying the amyloid plaques that clump together in the brain, so it doesn't kill as many brain cells and not near as fast. They are also in the process of figuring out how to detangle all of the tau in the brain, but have not yet found a way to do so. (7)
