What is Alzheimer's ? symptoms and treatment know everything
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What is Alzheimer's?
In this article, we will learn about Alzheimer's disease and discuss in detail why and how it occurs.
Alzheimer's disease is an age-related, neurodegenerative disease with no apparent cause. It is a common form of dementia and a degenerative brain disease. As well as being irreversible and progressive in nature, the disease causes brain cells to slowly die. And people's memory gradually declines.
When does Alzheimer's disease occur? Well, Alzheimer's disease usually occurs in people aged 65 to 70 years or older. But sometimes this disease can occur in younger people (15–25 years old) as well. Especially after birth, many children are born with Alzheimer's disease, and we usually call them mentally retarded children.
Table of Contents
- 1.What is Alzheimer's?
- 2. Risk factors associated with Alzheimer's disease
- 3.Normal Facts of Alzheimer’s
- 4.Common Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
- 5.Serious Symptoms of Alzheimer’s
- 6.Identifying Alzheimer's disease
- 7.Alzheimer’s tests
- 8.Treatment of Alzheimer's disease
- 9.Behavioral and psychological treatments
Risk factors associated with Alzheimer's disease
- One of the causes of Alzheimer's disease is old age; sometimes it can be young age, but the incidence of this disease is higher with increasing age.
- Sometimes, if someone has Alzheimer's disease in their family genetics, another family member may be affected by the disease.
- Irregular sleep can increase Alzheimer's disease.
- Heart health and a sedentary lifestyle are also linked to Alzheimer's disease. Also lack of exercise and high blood pressure are possible risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.
Normal Facts of Alzheimer’s
Although we know about the Alzheimer's disease, there are still some facts we need to know. Here are some key facts to know:
- Alzheimer's disease is a chronic (long-term) and ongoing condition. Alzheimer's and dementia are not the same thing. Rather, Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia.
- The symptoms of Alzheimer's develop gradually, and it affects the brain, causing our brain function to gradually decrease and we to lose our normal thinking ability.
- Generally, people over 65 years of age are at higher risk of contracting this disease. It is not limited to age; anyone can get Alzheimer's disease. Anyone can develop Alzheimer's disease.
- There is no cure yet for Alzheimer's, but improving quality of life can slow the progression of the disease.
Common Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
Generally speaking, judgment is human nature. But as a result of Alzheimer's disease, people lose their memory and judgment.
Some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are listed below.
- Alzheimer's disease causes gradual changes in behavior.
- Suddenly, he or she can be angry and resentful without any reason.
- Losing essential things and forgetting where things are kept.
- Alzheimer's patients often lose their continuity of speech.
- Having problems with judgment and analysis or making any kind of decision.
- Decreased personal hygiene.
- Forget the way.
Serious Symptoms of Alzheimer’s
- weight loss.
- Skin infection.
- Feel the convulsions.
- Decreased urination.
- Difficulty swallowing.
If these symptoms appear in a person, it should be understood that he has Alzheimer's.
It is important to see a doctor to determine the cause.
Identifying Alzheimer's disease
After death by examining human brain tissue , it is possible to determine the exact cause of Alzheimer's disease.
But doctors can use several tests to determine if you have Alzheimer's disease. A doctor may tests to determine the dimensional and mental abilities.
The doctor will ask you several questions about the disease to examine you and get an idea of your disease.
The questions that will be asked are:
- What kind of treatment are you taking initially?
- How was your physical condition before, and how is your physical condition now?
- Check current and past drug prescriptions.
- Do you have any dietary habits, like alcohol, or what is on your daily food list?
After knowing these things, the doctor will ask you to do several tests to determine if you have Alzheimer's disease, and before that, he will ask you some basic questions about your mental state so that the doctor can get a basic idea of your mental state, which is Based on the above, the doctor will prescribe you some tests.
Alzheimer’s tests
So far, no specific test for Alzheimer's disease has been discovered.
However, the doctor will do some mental, physical, neurological, and imaging tests to get an idea of your physical condition. They will also check for the following:
- Long-term memories (check if any old memories are causing your mood)
- Short-term memory (check if your mental state is caused by a very recent event)
For example, they may ask you:
- What date is today?
- What did you have for breakfast in the morning?
- When do you sleep at night?
- Read this newspaper article.
After the mental examination, the doctor will give you a physical examination.
- Check your blood pressure (check for high or low blood pressure).
- Assess your heart rate.
- Check your body temperature.
- In some cases, urine or blood will be tested.
To find out if you have Alzheimer's disease, the doctor will check your brain and body parts. For this, the doctor will do some lab tests and imaging tests to evaluate your memory, thinking, and skills through various tests, such as:
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. It is useful for diagnosing diseases of the internal organs, such as brain or heart disease, through an MRI scanner to check the internal organs of your body.
- Computed tomography (CT) scan. With a CT scan, the doctor will take a picture of the internal contents of your brain.
The doctor may also do other tests, such as blood tests for genes, to see if you are at high risk for Alzheimer's disease.
Treatment of Alzheimer's disease
Although there is no specific treatment for Alzheimer's disease, there are several steps that can be taken to control the early symptoms, for which the affected person should always lead a normal life, reduce stress, avoid stressing about things, and take care. To improve his quality of life with the help of his family and to control Alzheimer's disease to some extent,
Even then, if there are symptoms that can cause physical damage without the initial symptoms, the medicine can be taken with the doctor's advice.
There is no specific cure for Alzheimer's disease, but doctors prescribe some medications to reduce the symptoms mentioned above, some of which are:
Cholinesterase inhibitor drugs,
These drugs can also reduce cognitive symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, and abnormal behavior.
can improve nerve-brain communication. These drugs are somewhat effective in treating Alzheimer's disease.
Behavioral and psychological treatments
Alzheimer's disease can cause psychotic and behavioral problems in the patient, including extreme depression, anxiety, restlessness, irritability, etc. This can lead to hearing loss and vision loss.
Such behaviors can be facilitated by environmental changes. In addition, in some cases, doctors may recommend medications, such as:
- Antipsychotic medication for delusions, hallucinations, or aggression
- Antidepressants to treat low mood
- Antianxiety drugs
We hope this article has answered your questions about Alzheimer's disease.If you need more information about Alzheimer's, contact a neurologist immediately.