What you should know about ALZHEIMER'S disease.

Symptoms:
Alzheimer’s manifests slowly. A person in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s may seem to be having a normal forgetfulness. Victims may start out misplacing objects and forgetting things they had been told. Eventually the person with Alzheimer’s will forget the names of loved ones.

It is important to seek help when you first are aware of the symptoms. Eventually the Alzheimer’s patient will forget how to do day-to-day activities like getting dressed or eating. Advanced Alzheimer’s patients will need full-time supervision.

Diagnosis:
Diagnosing Alzheimer’s can be difficult. The only definitive way to test for the disease is by testing brain tissue following an autopsy. Doctors have a series of lab tests and mental assessments that in most cases can confirm a case of Alzheimer’s in a patients.

It’s very important that you seek medical attention as soon as you notice the symptoms. It is possible for dementia to be caused by factors other than Alzheimer’s and could be easily treatable.

Treatments:
Currently there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Physicians can usually offer patients new treatments that my slow down the progression of the disease or reduce the affects of its symptoms.

Even though there is no cure now, many advances are being made in the search for an end to Alzheimer’s.

Facts about Alzheimer’s disease

• Over 4 million people have the disease.
• About half of Americans 85 years of age and above suffer from AD.
• According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in ten Americans have a family member with the disease.
• According to the National Institute on Aging, the cost of care for Alzheimer's patients in America is about $100 billion dollars annually.
  
  

Links to helpful sites on Alzheimer's Disease.