Important Things to Know about Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s is regarded as a form of dementia, where a person faces serious challenges pertaining to cognitive abilities. It is often said that this disease is associated only with older age groups; however, it is not true as every year thousands of youths are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. With growing time, the Alzheimer’s disease worsens, thereby putting the lives of patients at a complete risk. An attempt has been made in this article to give a vivid description of Alzheimer’s disease.
Causes of Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s is mainly caused due to the decline in the working of the brain, especially the nerve cells.
- Aging can be called one of the major causes of dementia. With increased age, the nerve cells began to become less functional which further increases its risk.
- The human brain has specific nerve cells that are meant to do a specific work and the occurrence of any disturbances in these cells results in loss of memory.
- One of the major catalysts behind damaging of nerve cells is the deposit of tangles and plaques.
- In case patients have a family history of Alzheimer’s disease, then they can get affected by this disease.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
The symptoms of Alzheimer’s are not that sudden and the sufferer might not understand that they are being affected by the disease. Rather the family members could detect it by looking at the changing behavior of the person.
Here is a list of symptoms that can clearly indicate the fact that a person is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
- A decline in the state of cognitive ability reduces a person’s ability to remember any information. One can easily misplace a thing and also forget about particular events.
- Those who are suffering from dementia will become quite incapable of planning complex activities. They find it difficult to take any decision.
- A major change, especially in behavior, can be detected among those who fall prey to Alzheimer’s. One can find that a person is getting detached from society.
- With time, the symptoms began to become more intense and an individual will face a significant loss of memory.
- A person tends to find it problematic to speak or even to swallow.
- It has been found that in the later stage of Alzheimer’s, one could get suspicious about their family members or friends.
Know the treatment methods for Alzheimer’s
There are some medications related to Alzheimer’s disease available in the market. Although they are not permanent treatment options rather they are only meant to reduce the symptoms to some extent.
- Cholinesterase: It is known to increase the communication between different nerve cells which gets damaged due to Alzheimer’s. This medication has made significant progress in improving symptoms of depression and agitation.
- Memantine: Memantine found to function in another part of the brain cell and aims at reducing symptoms of the disease.
In order to minimize the effect of behavioral changes, antidepressants can also be prescribed by the doctor. Other ways to treat a dementia patient apart from medicines have been given below:
- Those who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease tend to lose their appetite and even forget to eat. So, it is the responsibility of the caregivers to give them nutritious food. It is to be ensured that the patient is able to have several glasses of water on a regular basis.
- Exercise can be taken as one of the best ways to treat a patient. A daily walk can allow them to bring significant changes in their mood.