Unfortunately as your age increases so do the number of problems that seem to affect you and the most common form of dementia amongst the elderly is now Alzheimer's disease. The gradual loss of memory must be awful and with at least ten percent of people aged 65 and over affected it is fast becoming a major age related problem.
The world started focusing on Alzheimer's disease only about thirty years ago and its effects are not even fully understood today, although it was first discovered in 1906 by Alois Alzheimer, a German physician. Studies have shown that getting older is the main reason for contracting this degenerative disease. Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's is often delayed by the person having symptoms of Alzheimer's disease themselves, when they either fail to recognize the signs or choose to ignore them.
Although there are many areas of dementia, Alzheimer's treatment is the same as other degenerative brain disorders. Unfortunately because of this, there isn't an exclusive Alzheimer's treatment available presently although there are a few drugs that can help some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's. Most Alzheimer's disease sufferers will be prescribed on of the following drugs Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine that have been approved for use by the FDA and have shown that they can improve the cognitive abilities of the patient for up to six months.
However a new drug Memantine is proving to be effective in slowing down the mental deterioration seen in Alzheimer's disease patients in the later stages of the disease. Alzheimer's disease sufferers prescribed Donepezil with up to including severe symptoms are now prescribed Memantine as well. The side effects with Memantine are low, and it's the first drug shown to have an effect on the symptoms of moderate to severe Alzheimer's with more than 80% of the memantine excreted and unchanged by the kidneys.
Alzheimer's disease is considered to be a major public health challenge since the average age of the industrialized world's population is increasing and is now the fourth largest cause of death in America. The economic cost of treating and providing care and treatment for Alzheimer's disease is currently over billion a year. The National Institute on Aging, last year spent almost half of its annual budget on research into the causes and treatment of Alzheimer's. To show the global concern surrounding Alzheimer's disease, research is being carried out into over 300 compounds around the world, which may be effective in treating it.
One of the few factors that you can change yourself to alter your risk of developing Alzheimer's is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. However, researchers believe the happier and healthier someone with Alzheimer's disease is, the slower his or her decline. Fortunately Alzheimer's disease is still mainly affecting elderly people but there have been recent occasions where younger persons have developed it.
