"...high cholesterol and high blood pressure — factors that cause strokes andheart disease — may also increase the risk for developing Alzheimer's."
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Physicians at Mecosta Health Services are available on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Its physicians will care for you both in the office, and at the hospital. Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Contact-Big Rapids, (231) 796-3200, or Canadian Lakes, (231) 972-6000.
[Article information from the Alzheimer's Association.] |
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Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month |
What is Alzheimer's
Disease?:
About 4 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's. It is an illness that makes it hard for people to remember, think, and use language. It can make them act strange or seem moody. After a while, people with Alzheimer's have a hard time with things like using the phone, cooking or handling money. Many people think the early symptoms of Alzheimer's are signs of normal aging. So Alzheimer's is often not diagnosed and treated early.
Progression of Alzheimer's Disease:
The duration of the illness may often vary from 3 to 20 years. The areas of the brain that control memory and thinking skills are affected first, but as the disease progresses, cells die in other regions of the brain. Eventually, the person with Alzheimer's will need complete care. If the individual has no other serious illness, the loss of brain function itself will cause death.
Causes:
No one knows yet exactly what causes Alzheimer's Disease, but most researchers agree that the cause may be a complex set of factors. Scientists have identified three genes that cause rare, inherited forms of the disease that tend to occur before age 65. Researchers have also identified one gene that raises the risk of the more common form of Alzheimer's that affects older people.
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Age and Family History:
Studies have shown that the greatest known risk for developing Alzheimer's is increasing age. As many as 10 percent of all people 65 years of age and older have Alzheimer's. As many as 50 percent of all people 85 and older have the disease. A family history of the disease is another known risk. Having a parent or sibling with the disease increases an individual's chances of developing Alzheimer's.
Other Factors:
Much dementia research has focused on vascular risk factors, which are factors related to the blood circulation system. A great deal of evidence shows that disorders such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure-factors that cause strokes and heart disease-may also increase the risk for developing Alzheimer's.
10 Warning Signs:
- 1. Memory Loss
- One of the most common early signs of dementia is forgetting recently learned information. While it's normal to forget appointments, names, or telephone numbers, those with dementia will forget such things more often and not remember them later.
- 2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks.
- People with dementia often find it hard to complete everyday tasks that are so familiar we
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- (difficulties, cont.)
usually do not think about how to do them. A person with Alzheimer's may not know the steps for preparing a meal, using a household appliance, or participating in a lifelong hobby.
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3. Problems with language.
- Everyone has trouble finding the right word sometimes, but a person with Alzheimer's disease often forgets simple words or substitutes unusual words, making his or her speech or writing hard to understand. If a person with Alzheimer's is unable to find his or her toothbrush, for example, the individual may ask for "that thing for my mouth."
- 4. Disorientation to time and place.
- It's normal to forget the day of the week or where you're going. But people with Alzheimer's disease can become lost on their own street, forget where they are and how they got there, and not know how to get back home.
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