Alzheimer’s Causes, Signs and Symptoms
Alzheimer’s is an illness that leads brain cells to degenerate. Alzheimer’s is deemed as the leading cause of dementia which is a progressive decline in social, behavioral and thinking skills. Alzheimer’s not only affects individuals suffering from the illness but also their loved ones because they have to be physically present always to take care of the patient
Alzheimer’s occurs when the brain cells die. Since the disease is degenerative the disease advances as the brain cells continue to die. Alzheimer’s is also believed to be caused by the increased buildup of proteins around and in the brain cells. Two proteins are involved in this build up; amyloid which forms dense plaques on the surface of the brain cells and Tau which accumulates inside the brain cells (Amin, Shamsi, Asghar, Khaki, Khan, Tabrez & Bano, 2019). As a result the neurotransmitters are affected thus affecting communication in the brain.
One of the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s is loss of memory. Since Alzheimer’s causes the brain cells to waste away individuals experience memory loss. Patients suffering from the illness start by forgetting conversations and activities they have carried out recently such as eating or taking medication and as the illness progresses they start forgetting long term memories such as experiences shared with their loved ones and forgetting their loved ones (Ravisankar, Rahul, Roja, Srikanth, Reddy & Babu, 2016). Another symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty in thinking and concentrating. It becomes hard to carry out tasks which were previously easy such as counting numbers.
Alzheimer’s is a common illness in the United States especially among the elderly but the symptoms are similar to other illnesses and therefore individuals are supposed to seek for medical advice once their loved ones start showing symptoms. Many people are aware of the illness since it has affected many families and the illness has been covered in many publications. Information about the illness is readily available in scientific journals as well as other academic materials. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s but there are treatments offered to patients to slow down the process when the illness is detected early.
References
Amin, F., Shamsi, A., Asghar, M. N., Khaki, P. S. S., Khan, M. S., Tabrez, S., & Bano, B. (2019). Alzheimer’s: A Progressive Brain Disease: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention. In Biological, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Advances in Alzheimer’s Disease (pp. 31-51). Springer, Singapore.
Ravisankar, P., Rahul, K. S., Roja, C., Srikanth, C. V. S., Reddy, G. A. K., & Babu, P. S. (2016). Alzheimer’sA Detailed study on causes, symptoms, remedies and current research studies. IOSR journal of dental and medical sciences, 15, 108-121.