In only a very short space of time, Alzheimer's disease has become a major player in diseases affecting the elderly; other forms of dementia are often forgotten even though they are all important.
The current figures show that of people aged 65 and over, 10 percent are suffering from Alzheimer's disease; diagnosis is improving with an accuracy of between 87 and 94 percent.
The world started focusing on the disease only about thirty years ago although was first discovered in 1906 by Alois Alzheimer, a German physician; it is a complex disease that is not yet fully understood.
According to studies, it is advancing age that is the greatest risk to developing Alzheimer's disease.
Unfortunately, the person experiencing the early symptoms of Alzheimer's will know something is wrong but won't admit it to others or even to themselves; this often cause delays in the diagnosis.
General measures for treatment of Alzheimer's disease are the same as for all dementias.
There is no definitive treatment at present, but some drugs improve the symptoms or stall their progression.
At the moment, three drugs are used routinely to treat sufferers of Alzheimer's, all of which have been approved by the FDA - Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine; they can improve the mental faculties of patients with this condition by up to 26 weeks.
Another drug, Memantine, a relative of the older anti-influenza drug Amantadine, is proving successful at slowing down the mental decline of sufferers; this drug slows down the mental deterioration so those already prescribed Donepezil with severe symptoms are now prescribed Memantine instead.
Memantine is the first medicine to show such positive results with sufferers with few problems associated with its use; most of the drug is passed out again when the patient urinates (about 80 percent), virtually without any change taking place.
Because people are living longer Alzheimer's disease has become a serious health problem that governments must face; this disease is now the fourth largest cause of death in America alone.
That is not the only problem because medical costs continue to increase and is something that needs some long term consideration; there is already 40 billion American dollars spent every year on treatment and this amount is set to rise.
According to the National Institute on Aging, nearly half of its annual budget is spent on research into this awful condition; global testing into various treatments are currently being investigated with hundreds of compounds under scrutiny.
One way to help lower the risk of dementia and one that you can have responsibility for is to change how you live by eating healthily and taking regular exercise.
Although not full proven yet, researchers studying Alzheimer's patients have noticed that those who stay healthy and cheerful have slowed down the rate of decline.
At the moment, the disease is still primarily affecting the aged; there have however, been recent occasions (although rare) where a younger person has developed this condition.
The current figures show that of people aged 65 and over, 10 percent are suffering from Alzheimer's disease; diagnosis is improving with an accuracy of between 87 and 94 percent.
The world started focusing on the disease only about thirty years ago although was first discovered in 1906 by Alois Alzheimer, a German physician; it is a complex disease that is not yet fully understood.
According to studies, it is advancing age that is the greatest risk to developing Alzheimer's disease.
Unfortunately, the person experiencing the early symptoms of Alzheimer's will know something is wrong but won't admit it to others or even to themselves; this often cause delays in the diagnosis.
General measures for treatment of Alzheimer's disease are the same as for all dementias.
There is no definitive treatment at present, but some drugs improve the symptoms or stall their progression.
At the moment, three drugs are used routinely to treat sufferers of Alzheimer's, all of which have been approved by the FDA - Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine; they can improve the mental faculties of patients with this condition by up to 26 weeks.
Another drug, Memantine, a relative of the older anti-influenza drug Amantadine, is proving successful at slowing down the mental decline of sufferers; this drug slows down the mental deterioration so those already prescribed Donepezil with severe symptoms are now prescribed Memantine instead.
Memantine is the first medicine to show such positive results with sufferers with few problems associated with its use; most of the drug is passed out again when the patient urinates (about 80 percent), virtually without any change taking place.
Because people are living longer Alzheimer's disease has become a serious health problem that governments must face; this disease is now the fourth largest cause of death in America alone.
That is not the only problem because medical costs continue to increase and is something that needs some long term consideration; there is already 40 billion American dollars spent every year on treatment and this amount is set to rise.
According to the National Institute on Aging, nearly half of its annual budget is spent on research into this awful condition; global testing into various treatments are currently being investigated with hundreds of compounds under scrutiny.
One way to help lower the risk of dementia and one that you can have responsibility for is to change how you live by eating healthily and taking regular exercise.
Although not full proven yet, researchers studying Alzheimer's patients have noticed that those who stay healthy and cheerful have slowed down the rate of decline.
At the moment, the disease is still primarily affecting the aged; there have however, been recent occasions (although rare) where a younger person has developed this condition.