About Alzheimer’s Disease

Facts about Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative brain disorder that is the most common form of dementia. The disease slowly degrades a person’s ability to assimilate information about their environment and to integrated this information to adjust to a specific behavior (perception, conceptualisation, faculty of reasoning, language, decision, thought). When a person has Alzheimer’s disease, the ability to make decisions, perceive, think, understand,understand, reason, and participate in everyday activities is gradually destroyed.

• Alzheimer’s disease may last from two to twenty years; the average patient lives eight to ten years after diagnosis.
• AD is not part of the normal ageing process of the brain.
• There is not one diagnostic test that can confirm the presence of Alzheimer’s disease, however, by the process of elimination, doctors can diagnose Alzheimer’s disease with almost 90% accuracy.
• It is estimated that there are currently about 18 million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s disease. This figure is projected to nearly double by 2025 to 34 million. Much of this increase will be in the developing countries, and will be due to the ageing population.
• Currently, more than 50% of people with Alzheimer’s disease live in developing countries and by 2025, this will be over 70% (World Health Organization, www.whosea.org).
• In France, Alzheimer’s disease accounts for more than 70% of all dementia cases (approximately 800,000). This number will grow due to the increasing ageing population. There are almost 165,000 new cases each year (Ministère des Solidarités de la Santé et de la Famille, http://www.sante.gouv.fr ).
• In the US, more than seven of ten people with Alzheimer's disease live at home.
• Almost 75% of the home care is provided by family and friends. The remainder is "paid" care costing an average of $12,500 per year with families paying almost all of that out-of-pocket.
• It is estimated that the average lifetime cost per patient is $174,000.

Although there is no way to cure or even prevent Alzheimer’s disease, with the proper care, those affected by the disease can enjoy an improved quality of life. The following list is taken from the Alzheimer Society of Canada web site: http://www.alzheimer.ca.

10 Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

1. Memory loss that affects day-to-day function.

   It is normal to occasionally forget appointments, people, colleagues’s names, or a friend’s phone number and remember them later. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may ask the same question over and over, forgetting that it had been answered. forget things more often and not remember them later, especially things that have happened more recently. They may forget who their relatives are, and when told, will forget again.

2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks.

   Busy people can be so distracted from time to time that they may leave vegetablesthe carrots on the stove and only remember to serve them at the end of a meal. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may have trouble with tasks that have been familiar to them all their lives, such as cooking a favorite preparing a meal.

3. Problems with language.

   Everyone has trouble finding the right word sometimes, but peoplea person with Alzheimer’s disease may forget simple words or substitute word, making their her sentences difficult to understand.

4. Disorientation of time and place.

   It is normal to forget the day of the week or your destination every once and a while. People with Alzheimer’s disease can become lost on their own street, not knowing how they got there or how to get home. These individuals can even go back home and not even recognize their own dwellings.

5. Poor or decreased judgment

   People may sometimes put off going to a doctor if they have an infection, but eventually seek medical attention. PeopleA person with Alzheimer’s disease may have decreased judgment, for example not recognizing a medical problem that needs attention or wearing heavy clothing on a hot day.

6. Problems with abstract thinking

   From time to time, people may have difficulty with tasks that require abstract thinking, such as balancing a checkbook. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease may have significant difficulties with such tasks, such asfor example the inability to add numbers, or not recognizing what the what the numbers in the checkbook mean.

7. Misplacing things

   Anyone can temporarily misplace a wallet or keys. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in inappropriate places: an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl.

8. Changes in mood and behavior

   Everyone becomes sad or moody from time to time. Someone with Alzheimer’s disease can exhibit varied mood swings, from calm, to tears, to anger, and for no apparent reason.

9. Changes in personality

   People’s personalities can change somewhat with age, b. But peoplea person with Alzheimer’s disease can become confused, suspicious or withdrawn. Changes may also include apathy, fearfulness or acting out of character.

10. Loss of initiative

    It is normal to be tired of housework, business activities or social obligations, but most people regain their initiative. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may become very passive, and require cues and prompting to become involved.

Although Alzheimer’s disease cannot be prevented, with the proper care those affected by the disease can enjoy an improved quality of life.