What Is Alzheimers Disease And Who Gets It

Pre-senile dementia, otherwise known as Alzheimers is a condition in which sufferers become forgetful and start to lose their memory. With time, this progressively worsens and the people afflicted with this condition become quite vacant and forgetful. The end result is that the conditions worsens so much that the person ceases to have any connection to the environment and people around them.

The even sadder part to this is that those afflicted with Alzheimers can carry on living for many years in this condition - out of touch and oblivious to everything around them.


Who gets it?
Primarily, Alzheimers is a disease of old age - just like osteoporosis.
Alzheimers is not something that is caused by a type of lifestyle. In fact it can affect almost anyone. Sometimes there might be a genetic component to this condition but it does not appear to run in families.

What causes it?
Alzheimers is caused by a type of protein which gathers in the cells and tissues of the brain and causes them to become disorganized and to die. What it is that causes the brain cells to become so disorganized in this way is not yet understood. Many theories abound about the exact cause of Alzheimers but they remain simply theories.

Normally, this protein would be processed and made inefficient by the immune system. However, what happens in cases of Alzheimers is that this protein can no longer be processed and resembles something like a virus (although it is not living matter).

Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimers is a very common condition and is the most common cause of senile and pre-senile dementia.
It is characterized by confusion and, towards the end, a total deterioration of personality.

Alzheimer's affect the brain and therefore eventually it also effects those parts that make up our personality such as character, behaviour and emotions. On the surface it appears to be quite similar to mental illness and can be mistaken for a mental, rather than a physical, condition. Furthermore, in its final stages, Alzheimers becomes wholly indistinguishable from a mental illness.

Many years ago, Alzheimers was considered an embarrassing illness to have, along the lines of a mental illness such as retardation or schizophrenia.
Fortunately, with the advances in research made during the past few years, we have come to understand that Alzheimers is not a mental condition but a physical one in which the brain cells will deteriorate progressively and irreversibly.


Treatments for Alzheimer's disease

At this moment in time there are no known treatments for this condition and there are no preventative measures that can be taken. There is also no medicine currently available which will control it. It is simply a matter of luck, if you can call it that, whether the condition deteriorates quickly or slowly. Either way, one thing is for certain: the condition is irreversible.


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