Alzheimer Disease / Dementia

Understanding

Alzheimer's disease is a condition in which some of the cells in the brain are not functioning. As a result the ability of the brain decreased dramatically.
In the early phase, people with Alzheimer's usually often lose short-term memory. For example, forgot or can not remember the incident that just happened. In addition, sufferers also often forget the name of places or objects that are often used.
Patients with Alzheimer's disease will experience a severe decline in intellectual function. This will cause disruption to the daily activities and social life of the patient.
Alzheimer's disease occurs chronically and can not heal normally. Until now, there is no drug that can cure people with Alzheimer's disease 100%.
The risk of Alzheimer's disease will increase with age. In general, this disease appears over the age of 65 years and more often attacks the women.
 
Complications
Some of the complications that can appear in people with Alzheimer's disease / senility are:

• Depression
• Reluctant to perform normal activities
• Changes in attitude and perliaku
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Difficult to communicate
• Withdraw from family and environment

 

Diagnosis

Determination of diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease / senility, can be done through interviews and some examination. The doctor will conduct an examination to assess the ability to remember, changes in attitude, the degree of memory disturbances that occur, until the cause of the complaint.
To assess the mental health of a sufferer, it may be checked by MMSE (Mini Mental State Examination). Additional possible checks such as blood examination, MRI examination, CT-scan.

 

Symptoms

Early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease / senility include:

• Easy to forget, even for things that are often done or new things done.
• Sufferers often experience disorientation, especially for time.
• Difficulties in complex cognitive functions, such as math or organizational activity.

If this condition persists, several complaints that may arise are:

• Confusion and disorientation
• Attitudinal changes for example become more aggressive or become more suspicious
• Hallucinations or delusions
• Problems in talking
• Difficult to do action without any help

 

Treatment

Therapy for Alzheimer's disease / senility involves several aspects, such as:

1. Use of drugs. The drug classes commonly used for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease / dementia are cholinesterase inhibitors (eg Donepezil), Memantine, antidepressants, to anti-anxiety medications and insomnia.
   
2. Environmental therapy. In this case concerning how to make people with Alzheimer's feel more comfortable. For example by putting important things in life (wallet, key) in the same place every day. Also make sure Alzheimer's patients carry mobile phones wherever they travel.
   
3. Regular medical examination.
   
4. Lifestyle changes. Perform regular exercise and increase the daily nutrition intake of patients. Some vitamins that can help Alzheimer's disease are Omega-3, curcumin, ginkgo, and vitamin E.

 
Prevention

Some things you can do to prevent Alzheimers disease are:

• Quit smoking
• Avoid alcohol consumption in large quantities
• Consumption of high nutritious foods (containing vegetables and fruits)
• Exercise at least 150 minutes a week
• Perform routine checks to the doctor
• Activate your brain by reading, writing, learning language, playing a musical instrument, playing tennis, swimming and walking.

 

Cause

Until now there is no known exact cause of Alzheimer's disease / dementia. Nevertheless, there are several risk factors for the emergence of this disease, namely:

• Increased age
• Family history of Alzheimer's
• History of head injury
• Lifestyle-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease

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