Overview
Alzheimer's Disease causes progressive loss of all cognitive functions -primarily memory- of brain (dementia) and is characterized with microscopic abnormal protein storage in the brain. Dementia means memory impairment, difficulty in language skills and arithmetic operations, and progressive loss of judgement, attention and other cognitive functions. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia; however, there are other disorders causing similar clinical pictures of dementia.
Prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease increases in advanced age groups; however, it should be remembered that this process is not an inevitable result of normal aging. Some structural changes occur in brain in normal aging process; however, remarkable loss of mental skills is not observed. In Alzheimer’s disease, on the other hand, there is “difficulty in recording new information".
Here is a short list of symptoms:
- Memory impairments
- Challenges in thinking and understanding causal relations
- Difficulty in decision making process
- Difficulty finding appropriate words
- Difficulty in arithmetic operations
- Changes in personality and behaviors
- Difficulty fulfilling functions which could be easily met in the past
- Getting lost
- Obsessive thoughts
- Repeated movements
Doctors
