Alzheimer’s Disease can begin many years before it is eventually diagnosed
Alzheimer’s Disease can begin many years before it is eventually diagnosed. In its early stages, short-term memory loss is the most common symptom, often initially thought to be caused by aging or stress by the sufferer. Later symptoms include confusion, anger, mood swings, language breakdown, long-term memory loss, and the general withdrawal of the sufferer as his or her senses decline. Gradually the sufferer loses minor, and then major bodily functions, until death occurs. Although the symptoms are common, each individual experiences the symptoms in unique ways. The duration of the disease is estimated as being between 5 and 20 years. More than 4.5 million Americans are believed to have Alzheimer’s disease and by 2050, the number could increase to 13.2 million. Approximately 65,800 victims die and 350,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s disease are diagnosed each year. America is not alone in dealing with this terrible affliction. In every nation where life expectancy has increased, so has the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is becoming tragically common.
It is estimated that there are currently 50 million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s disease. This figure is projected to grow to more than 160 million people by 2050. The first sign of Alzheimer disease is a continuous pattern of forgetting things. This starts to affect a person’s daily life. He or she may forget where the grocery store is or the names of family and friends. This stage of the disease may last for some time or quickly progress, causing memory loss and forgetfulness to get worse. Although some kinds of memory loss are normal parts of aging, the changes due to aging are not severe enough to interfere with the level of function. Many different diseases can cause dementia, but Alzheimer’s disease is by far the most common cause for dementia in the United States and in most countries in the world.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive and unfortunately fatal brain disease for which there is no cure. It destroys brain cells causing loss of memory, mainly short term loss. In addition to memory loss Alzheimer’s causes thinking and behavior problems that can become serious enough to effect your work, your social life, and the ability to accomplish simple everyday tasks such as personal grooming, preparing meals, household chores and many other things. As the disease progresses you could even forget how to do these things altogether
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Tags: Alzheimer's, Alzheimers disease