Understanding Alzheimer's Disease

What is Alzheimer's disease?
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, a brain disorder characterized by mental deterioration severe enough to interfere with a person's daily functions. More than 4.5 million people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the U. S. alone. It is a devastating and progressive disease where brain abnormalities described as plaques and tangles develop, and nerve cells in the brain die. It is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, who in 1906 first described the disease after looking at the brain tissue of a young patient with progressive dementia who had died. The cause of Alzheimer's disease is not known but certain risk factors — age, family history, and genetics — increase a person's chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. Because early symptoms, including forgetfulness and loss of concentration, mimic the natural signs of aging, diagnosis is often delayed and relationships can become strained. Early diagnosis and care is crucial to the welfare of all involved.

What are the symptoms?
Alzheimer's patients lose the ability to remember. Cognitively, persons with Alzheimer's have difficulty learning or retaining new information as well as recalling new or recent memories. As the disease develops, older memories are lost and expressing thoughts, recognizing people, and following instructions become challenging if not impossible. Psychologically, persons with Alzheimer's can become paranoid or delusional and may exhibit personality or mood changes. Eventually, those with the disease need tremendous help in managing the ordinary tasks of daily life.

What can be done?
At present there is no known cure for Alzheimer's, but progress is being made in terms of understanding the science of the disease as well as developing drugs that will intervene in its debilitating alteration of the brain's chemistry and composition. In addition, certain medications can be prescribed that may be helpful in alleviating some of the cognitive and behavioral symptoms. In that the disease's course can last from 5 — 20 years, developing a comprehensive care plan is essential to meeting the everyday needs of those affected. The establishment of memory care facilities (including The Academy at Bella Vista)   offers families of Alzheimer's patients options for comprehensive and compassionate care of their loved ones.

What are other causes of dementia?
As noted above, dementia is a disordering of the brain severe enough to interfere with a person's daily functioning. Rather than a disease itself, it is a group of symptoms that develops when the parts of the brain that are responsible for remembering and reasoning are affected by infections, diseases, or injury. Often dementia is irreversible as with Alzheimer's, multi-infarct dementia, and AIDS dementia complex. However, sometimes these symptoms can be reversed when caused by substance abuse, depression, chemical imbalances, or abnormal pressure resulting from tumors or subdural hematoma. It is extremely important that a thorough evaluation is made when dementia is suspected so that the correct diagnosis can be made and the proper treatment and care prescribed.

Resources for Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's Association
National Office
225 N. Michigan Avenue
17th Floor
Chicago, IL 60601
800.272.3900
Email: info@alz.org

Alzheimer 's Disease Education and Referral Center (ADEAR)
National Institute on Aging
P. O. Box 8250
Silver Spring, MD 20907
800.438.4380
Email: adear@alzheimers.org

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
National Institutes of Health, DHHS
6001 Executive Blvd. Rm. 8184, MSC 9663
Bethesda, MD 20892
301.443.4513
Email: nimhinfo@mih.gov

Return to all Alzheimer's and Dementia-related resources >