Index
- Everything you need to know about Alzheimer's disease
- What is Alzheimer's disease?
- What's going on in the sick person's brain?
- What are the warning signs of the disease?
- What are the causes of this pathology?
- What about risk factors?
- Characteristic signs of Alzheimer's disease
- Its different stages of evolution
Everything you need to know about Alzheimer's disease
With age, health becomes increasingly fragile. And after the age of 65, Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common neurological diseases and disorders. It is a slow and progressive disease that can have harmful effects on the health of the person affected. In fact, on average, a person dies within 10 years of diagnosis. Do you have a loved one with this disease and want to learn more about it? This article is for you! You will find everything you need to know about Alzheimer's disease.
What is Alzheimer's disease?
It is a neurodegenerative disease that mainly affects the cortical neurons. Alzheimer's disease first affects memory and then all other cognitive functions of the patient. The disease is progressive, and unfortunately there is no cure.
What's going on in the sick person's brain?
As a neurological disorder, Alzheimer's disease accelerates the degeneration of neurons. As a result, there is a global atrophy of the brain. This results in the cortex curling up and damaging certain areas of the brain dedicated to various cognitive functions. These functions are generally memory, language, knowledge that the patient has already acquired and gestures. In some cases, the part of the brain associated with planning is also affected. The hippocampus is also affected. This leads to memory loss and makes it difficult or even impossible to make new memories. The degeneration caused by Alzheimer's disease also affects the entire brain tissue. It is believed that there are fewer nerve cells in the brain than in a healthy brain.
What are the warning signs of the disease?
Alzheimer's disease is usually associated with memory loss. However, everyone can occasionally forget the place of certain objects or a telephone number. These are things that happen and should not alert you. However, there are some warning signs of Alzheimer's disease that you should watch for.
- Behavioural changes - among the signs of the disease that should alert you, behavioural changes are at the top of the list. Even before diagnosis, people with Alzheimer's disease are prone to excitement, irritability, severe anxiety, apathy, indifference or simply a lack of emotion. They also lack enthusiasm for all aspects of their loves.
- Overt disorientation - the patient with this neurological condition can easily get lost in his or her own neighbourhood. This disorientation in space is usually accompanied by disorientation in So you have to be careful if someone close to you can't remember what year it is.
- Language problems - from the onset of Alzheimer's disease, the person may have language problems. At this stage, it is quite common for the person to forget the names of everyday objects and the first names of family and friends. If you ever notice this type of disorder in a family member or friend, you should take this sign very seriously.
What are the causes of this pathology?
Although many people tend to think that Alzheimer's disease may be hereditary, this is not the case. In fact, nerve cell death is the leading cause of Alzheimer's disease. Also, the older a person gets, the greater the risk of getting the disease.
What about risk factors?
As mentioned above, the first risk factor for developing this condition is age. Also, even if the disease is not hereditary, the presence of certain susceptibility genes may contribute to its occurrence. In addition, alcoholism and social isolation are other factors that may also promote the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Characteristic signs of Alzheimer's disease
This neurological pathology manifests itself with different symptoms. However, they do not appear at the same time, but occur one by one as the disease progresses. Some of the signs that characterize Alzheimer's disease are :
- Memory loss
- Behavioural disorders such as depression, irritability, aggression or anxiety
- Confusion
- Disorientation in both space and time
- The alteration of language
- Walking and running away
You should be alert to these symptoms and contact a doctor immediately to start treatment as soon as possible. Especially since the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease do not appear until several years after the first brain damage has occurred.
Its different stages of evolution
From the first brain injury, Alzheimer's disease goes through 7 stages. Its evolution is therefore marked by the following stages:
- The non-existence of impairment
- A very slight cognitive deficit
- Mild cognitive impairment
- Moderate cognitive impairment
- A fairly severe cognitive deficit
- Severe cognitive impairment
- A very severe cognitive deficit
As you can see, it is very difficult to detect the very beginning of Alzheimer's disease. In any case, if you are concerned about memory loss in someone close to you, don't hesitate to take him or her to see a doctor.
