Alzgeimer's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease affects the elderly, attacking part of the brain that controls thinking, memory, and language. Alzheimer's is categorized into three phrases: mild, moderate, and sever. Unfortunately the disease is often mistaken as regular signs of aging and does not get detected until the later stage. Currently there is no known cure for Alzheimer's; however there are medications that can help slow the process down. The government has set a goal to develop a drug to treat and prevent Alzheimer's disease by 2025.

According to the Times Leader, today Alzheimer's is estimated to affect 5.4 million Americans and is the sixth leading killer among the elderly. (25) Signs of Alzheimer's are often misdiagnosed as regular signs of aging. Misdiagnosing the signs of Alzheimer's disease is allowing it to grow rapidly, it is estimated that by year 2050, 13 to 15 million Americans will have the disease and costing $1 trillion in medical expenditures. It is critical to diagnose Alzheimer's in the mild phrase and start proper treatment to slow down the process before it enters the moderate or severe phrase.

There are three phrases of Alzheimer's disease: mild, moderate, and severe. In the mild phrase symptoms may include, confusion, trouble remembering to pay bills, misplacing items, taking longer to get ready for an outing, and mild mood change. Moderate phrase symptoms may include, increased memory loss, problems recognizing family members, constantly repeating stories, and difficulty getting dressed. Sever phrase symptoms the person may be unable to control bowel and bladder, will experience the inability to recognize oneself or their family members, and may require full-time help. In the severe stage it is time to consider combination therapy.

While there is no known cure for Alzheimer's there are medication used to slow down the process of the disease. People in the sever stage of Alzheimer's has shown a slower decline in thinking, function, and behavior when they took Namenda combined with Aricept.

While these medications are not a cure for Alzheimer's the Obama administration is conduction a two-day meeting Tuesday January 23, 2012, with a team of doctors that specialize in disease control. The goal is to slow down, treat and destroy this disease by 2025.

References

http://www.everydayhealth.com/info/v1t00/webmd?s_kwcid=TC%7c21765%7cWebMD%7c%7cS%7cb%7c8342457974&gclid=CL6bxdL43K0CFWkZQgod5AIZGQ&xid=g_dlp-v1t00.online

The Times Leader, Alzheimer's focus of national plan, January 19,2012 (25)