Alzheimer’s disease has affected over 24 million people across the world till date. There is no known cure for this degenerative and terminal disease. Alzheimer’s disease largely affects people above the age of 65 years, although early onset of this disease also exists. The mind of the sufferer is literally hacked by this disease. 

Symptoms:
In the early stages of Alzheimer’s syndrome, the patient bumps into short-term memory loss, followed by confusion, anger, mood swings, language breakdown, and ultimately, long term memory loss. As the disease progresses, the sufferer loses minor and then major bodily functions, until death occurs.

Causes:
Plaques and tangles in the brain are considered to be the major causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

Treatment and care:
It is a bitter truth that there exists no treatment on Earth to stop or reverse the disease. It is not clear whether the current treatments for Alzheimer’s disease manage the symptoms or slow down the progression of this disease. 

The caretaker plays a very crucial role in the process of treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Generally, the spouse or a close relative is assigned the task of caretaker. Since the person affected from Alzheimer’s disease is affected by stress, depression, physical illness and whole lot of confusion, it is the responsibility of the caretaker to give intensive care, love and affection for the patient. The affected person often displays mood swings. The patient may get angry at one moment and may break down in tears in the very next moment. Hence, the caretaker should be extremely patient. 

Apart from showing love and affection, the caretaker is responsible to ensure a balanced diet and regular dose of exercises for the sufferer.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Mind. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.