Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a slowly progressive disease of the brain that is characterized by impairment of memory and eventually by disturbances in reasoning, planning, language, and perception.

The likelihood of having Alzheimer's disease increases substantially after the age of 70 and may affect around 50% of persons over the age of 85.

The main risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is increased age. There are also genetic risk factors and others.

There are 10 classic warning signs of Alzheimer's disease: memory loss, difficulty performing familiar tasks, problems with language, disorientation to time and place, poor or decreased judgment, problems with abstract thinking, misplacing things, changes in mood or behavior, changes in personality, and loss of initiative.

Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed when: 1) a person has sufficient cognitive decline to meet criteria for dementia; 2) the clinical course is consistent with that of Alzheimer's disease; 3) no other brain diseases or other processes are better explanations for the dementia. Many other causes of dementia are screened for prior to diagnosing Alzheimer's disease.

Pre-dementiaThe first symptoms are often mistakenly

attributed to ageing or stress.[5] Detailed neuropsychological testing can reveal mild cognitive difficulties up to eight years before a person fulfils the clinical criteria for diagnosis of AD.These early symptoms can affect the most complex daily living activities.The most noticeable deficit is memory loss, which shows up as difficulty in remembering recently learned facts and inability to acquire new information

Characteristics

EarlyIn people with AD the increasing

impairment of learning and memory eventually leads to a definitive diagnosis. In a small portion of them, difficulties with language, executive functions, perception (agnosia), or execution of movements (apraxia) are more prominent than memory problems.

ModerateProgressive deterioration eventually

hinders independence, with subjects being unable to perform most common activities of daily living.

Advanced

During the final stage of AD, the person is completely dependent upon caregivers