Introduction
Did you know? The death rate for Alzheimer’s Disease is more than breast and prostate cancer combined. Did you know? According to Alzheimer’s Association, the United States’ cost for dementia has reached $321 billion in 2022. Did you know? One in 3 seniors die with dementia, including Alzheimer’s.
So, what is Alzheimer’s exactly? It’s a common type of dementia and a progressive neurologic disorder. Though it’s not fully understood by researchers yet, it’s studied to be about the brain shrinking, which would lead to dying brain cells. This is a process of atrophy: the thinning and wasting of muscle mass.
History
In 1906, the case of Auguste D. was of a patient who complained of her significant memory loss and worsening psychological changes before she died of an unusual disease. However, Alois Alzheimer, a German physician had analyzed her brain at autopsy and noted that there was a massive shrinking of tissue around the patient’s nerve cells. There were abnormal clumps and tangled bundles of fibers, which are identified as today’s amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary. His discovery would then pave the way for future scientists to further investigate learning new scientific tools to compare the relation between symptoms and physical brain changes.
Over the years, the awareness for Alzheimer’s has grown tremendously. In 1983, US Congress declared the month of November to be dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease. In 1993, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cognex, the first drug targeting Alzheimer’s. In 2011, the US President Barack Obama signed the National Alzheimer’s Project Law to address the Alzheimer’s crisis at the time.
Symptoms & Causes
What to look for in a person who’s possibly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s? They could be mild memory loss or poor judgement that led to bad decisions, moderate inability to learn new things or hallucinations/paranoia, and more severe symptoms. Such as, inability to communicate, skin infections, and groaning/moaning sounds.
The most common cause for Alzheimer’s is aging, targeting people in their mid-60s. Other causes include family genetic history (APOE e4 allele), head trauma from traumatic brain injury (TBI), air pollution, poor sleeping patterns, and unhealthy lifestyles like drinking or smoking. It’s most effective for the disease to occur if all these factors are in combination.
Treatment Options
There are multiple treatments – coming in dosage, capsules, patches or tablets. Depending on the severity of the disease, one can be treated with medications such as Galantamine, Donepezil, Memantine and Rivastigmine. The side effects of taking these would include nausea, vomiting, allergic reactions, and diarrhea. Patient may also be prescribed anti-anxiety, anticonvulsants and/or antipsychotics.
The cure for Alzheimer’s is still nonexistent because researchers don’t fully understand the disease yet. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle is encouraged: exercise and increase social interaction and cognitive activity.
Informing Others
A common misconception is that Alzheimer’s is a normal part of aging, but it’s not. Once again, it’s highly influenced by the lifestyle and environment that one lives in. Since Alzheimer’s can only get more severe with time, it’s advised for the people around them to be patient and flexible with them. Things to help the Alzheimer’s community would be better educating oneself through research, raising awareness with events/programs, and offer help such as running errands. It’s most important to be conscious not only of our elderly, but also be aware of how we’re spending our youth.
References
Alzheimer's Association. (2019, October 23). 10 Ways to Help a Family Living with Alzheimer's. Retrieved from Alzheimer's Association: https://www.alz.org/blog/alz/october-2019/10_ways_to_help_a_family_living_with_alzheimer_s
Alzheimer's Association. (2023). Milestones. Retrieved from Alzheimer's Association: https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/research_progress/milestones
Alzheimer's Association. (2024). 2024 Alzheimer's Disease Facts And Figures. Alzheimer's Association. Retrieved from https://www.alz.org/media/Documents/alzheimers-facts-and-figures.pdf
Alzheimer's Association. (n.d.). Stages of Alzheimer's. Retrieved from Alzheimer's Association: https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/stages
Budson, A. E. (2021, July 15). A new Alzheimer's drug has been approved. But should you take it? Retrieved from Harvard Health Publishing: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-new-alzheimers-drug-has-been-approved-but-should-you-take-it-202106082483
National Institute on Aging. (n.d.). Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet. Retrieved from National Institute on Aging: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-and-dementia/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet
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