What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive, fatal brain
disease. According to the 2011 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures
report from the Alzheimer’s Association, 5.4 million people in the U.S. have
Alzheimer’s disease. With the aging of the population, and without successful
treatment, there will be 16 million Americans and 106 million people worldwide
with AD by 2050.
Increasing age is the primary risk factor for
developing AD, but severe memory loss is not a normal part of aging. AD is the
most common form of dementia among older people.
What are the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease affects the areas of the brain
that are essential for thinking, memory and behavior. Symptoms of the disease include:
- Memory loss
- Tendency to misplace things
- Trouble performing familiar tasks
- Changes in personality and behavior
- Poor judgment
- Problems with language
- Impaired visuospatial skills (trouble understanding spatial relationships of objects)
What causes Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease is caused by the abnormal build-up
of proteins in the brain. The build-up of the proteins — amyloid protein and tau
protein — leads to cell death.
What are some risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease?
Risk factors for AD include:
- Age
- Family history
- Certain genes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
Protective factors include:
- Mental activity
- Education
- Physical activity
- The Mediterranean diet or another healthy diet that includes antioxidants
How common is Alzheimer’s disease?
One in 10 people older than 65 and nearly half of
people older than 85 have Alzheimer’s disease. AD can affect people in their
40s. The percentage of people who have AD rises every decade beyond the age of 60.
While AD is the most common cause of dementia (accounting for 62 percent to 70 percent of cases), there are other causes.
These include:
- Frontotemporal dementia
- Parkinson’s or Huntington’s disease
- Dementia with Lewy bodies
- Vascular dementia
- Kidney or liver disease
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Thyroid problems
- Bad reaction to medication
- Drug or alcohol abuse
- Psychiatric disorders
How is Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed?
These tests are used to diagnose AD or to rule out other medical conditions:
- Mental status testing — measures how great a decline in mental
functioning (orientation, memory, language skills) exists
- Neuropsychological testing — assesses mood, thinking and personality
- Magnetic resonance (MR) scan of the brain
- Blood tests — blood counts, vitamin levels, liver and kidney function,
mineral balance and thyroid gland function tests
- Positron emission tomography (PET) metabolic or amyloid scanning in some patients