Alzheimer's

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a condition in which individuals as they grow older lose control of their cognitive and physical functions. In most cases it is not diagnosed until the middle stage of the disease because the first stage contains common problems in aging individuals. There is also the risk of missing a diagnosis of some other type of dementia. The only clear way to diagnose whether or not someone has Alzheimer’s is to do an autopsy when they die. As time progresses the individual will lose all abilities to care for themselves and perform normal day to day activities. Caregivers usually must step in to help care for the sick individuals. There are few treatments available to help those with Alzheimer’s disease but researchers are finding promising evidence to help create a possible treatment to help with the symptoms. Researchers are also looking for specific genetic markers to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease early on in life to provide more time for the families to get everything in order as the disease progresses.

There are three stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The first stage usually does not show any particularly alarming symptoms. The symptoms usually include some slight forgetfulness or problems thinking of something in particular. The second stage usually is where mild cognitive impairment is prominent. Common symptoms would include worsening memory loss, missing objects because they are placed in odd locations, mood and personality changes, and troubles managing money and bills. This stage is usually where Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed in individuals because the changes are more noticeable and detrimental to their daily lives. Close friends and family are able to notice these changes more quickly because of the extreme changes in the functions of the particular individual. There are two parts to the final stage of Alzheimer’s disease. The first is classified as the moderate stage. The symptoms for this stage are caused by...