Alzheimer's disease, also known as Alzheimer's disease (named after Aloysius Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist who was the first doctor to recognize and describe the disease), is a disease neurodegenerative, of evolution slow and progressive which causes brain atrophy and overall decline in mental functions, leading to dementia in elderly patients (preferably above 65 years). Patients gradually lose ability to reason, judgment and memory, which makes them dependent on support in their daily activities.
Causes:
Still not were totally elucidated. Currently, there is an association between genetic propensity and exposure to environmental factors (not yet recognized). It is believed that the accumulation in neurons of a protein called beta amyloid is one of the factors responsible for triggering the disease, but why this substance accumulates in some people and not in others still needs to be elucidated.
Symptoms:
As Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia in the world, and dementia is the main clinical feature of Alzheimer's disease, it is worth spending a few lines explaining the concept of dementia.
Dementia is a syndrome, that is, a set of signs and symptoms related to the deterioration of the patient's intellectual abilities. In addition to Alzheimer's disease, dementia is also common in patients with multiple strokes, Parkinson's disease, chronic alcoholism, cranial trauma, vitamin deficiency, severe hypothyroidism, brain tumor, and some other neurological diseases.
The demential syndrome has three basic characteristics:
- Memory changes;
- Changes in intellectual ability, including difficulties with logical reasoning, language, writing, thinking organization, interpretation of visual stimuli, planning and performing complex tasks, etc .;
- Behavior changes such as loss of inhibition, agitation and hallucinations, etc.
Dementia is a slowly progressive progressive syndrome that often goes unnoticed in the early stages. It is common for the elderly patient with dementia in the early stages to have their changes treated as "normal things of age".
It may also interest you: Dementia: what is it, how to identify and treat it?
It is important to note that minor forgetfulness is common and occurs with all people, especially in times of increased stress or fatigue. However, when memory lapses begin to occur frequently and are important, such as forgetting one's address, leaving home and losing oneself, forgetting the names of familiar people, etc., we must be alert. If along with frequent and progressive loss of memory for recent events, the elderly also exhibit changes in social behavior, such as apathy and tendency to isolate, as well as periods of confusion, such as storing salt in the refrigerator or the house keys in the closet of foods, dementia must be a hypothesis to be considered.
Forgetfulness of dementia is different from the common forgetfulness of everyday life. A person may forget that he has scheduled a meeting, but will become aware of the fact when reminded by another. The Alzheimer's patient forgets the meeting and does not even remember to have it checked out, even if he sees it written with his handwriting on an agenda.
In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, the patient himself can not recognize these neurological deficits, always arranging an excuse to justify these failures. As the patient is not aware of the disease, the family members often also take time to appreciate the changes. As dementia progresses, the family begins to notice that the signs and symptoms begin to become very evident and no longer fit into what people consider natural for age.
Patients with Alzheimer's disease in more advanced stages may be apathetic, depressed or aggressive, read things and can not interpret them, are unable to do calculations, can not name objects and do not recognize familiar people or their own home. Over time, he becomes unable to perform basic tasks such as dressing and showering. The patient becomes disoriented in time and space, not knowing to indicate the current date nor to identify geographically where it is.
Loss of inhibitions is another common symptom of Alzheimer's. The patient can show his genitalia in public, accuse people of stealing his objects, swearing profanity or profanity indiscriminately, or insulting others for no apparent reason. In more advanced phases, fecal and urinary incontinence appear.
In case of suspected Alzheimer's disease (you or a relative / friend), a doctor (preferably a geriatrician) should be consulted.He will be able to evaluate in detail, through anamnesis, physical examination and eventual complementary tests, if this is really his diagnosis, guide him and prescribe the best treatment, case by case.
