Alzheimer’s and Dementia

What Are Alzheimer’s and Dementia?
Treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are gradually improving as scientists focus on finding preventative measures and cures. However, this disease still affects more than five million Americans, and it is the sixth in the leading causes of death in the United States. As such, it is important to take Alzheimer’s symptoms and dementia symptoms very seriously.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are commonly linked. This is because dementia is often an early onset of Alzheimer’s, although this is not always the case. People who are worried about themselves and their loved ones should research the facts to see if they share any signs of symptoms of these conditions.
Dementia
Dementia is a term used to describe a wide variety of symptoms. These symptoms are often related to sharp memory decline as well as a decline in the patient’s ability to complete daily tasks. Approximately 50 to 80 percent of dementia patients develop Alzheimer’s. Other reasons for dementia include post-stroke dementia, which is also known as vascular dementia. Dementia causes that are reversible include vitamin deficiency and issues with the patient’s thyroid. However, in most cases, dementia cannot be reversed.
Symptoms of this condition are often varied. Two essential brain functions must be significantly damaged for dementia to be diagnosed. These functions include memory, communication, basic reasoning, ability to concentrate and perception of visual objects.
Treatments for dementia include experimental drug programs, established drug programs and therapies without drug involvement. Treatment for this condition is still in its early stages without much success. There are multiple experimental studies being established to improve research on how to treat dementia and its related conditions.
Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s occurs in millions of medical cases each year. Alzheimer’s causes include genetics, which is one of the major factors in developing the disease. Age is also another factor, but this does not mean that Alzheimer’s disease is a normal part of aging. This disease can progress quickly with patients no longer remembering who their loved ones are or even where they are living. Many patients are stuck in the past with only a few memories from random parts of their lives.
Many experts estimate that more than half of people over the age of 80 develop Alzheimer’s disease. This is why it is so important for treatment of the condition to improve. One third of senior citizens die with either dementia or Alzheimer’s. Every minute, someone else in the United States develops Alzheimer’s. Nursing homes and other treatment centers for people with these conditions are growing, but more people are giving their loved ones care at home. More than 15 million caregivers contributed billions of hours of unpaid care to Alzheimer’s sufferers in 2013.
There is currently no known cure for this disease. Alzheimer’s research is currently being done to improve the livelihoods of people suffering from this condition. It is important to remember that there is hope for people suffering from this disease. Alzheimer’s and dementia are conditions that can be fatal, but people are finding cures at this very moment.