With more than 3 million cases diagnosed per year, Alzheimer’s is an age-related progressive brain disease that destroys memory and thinking skills. There are some factors that are related to this disease and how the person changes over time puts a lot of stress on their caregiver and other family members.
Effects of Alzheimer’s
The most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s may affect the cognitive, behavioral, mood and psychological areas of the person. Also, it can cause the inability to combine muscle movements, create jumbled speech, or cause a loss of appetite.
A person with Alzheimer’s may experience some changes, such as:
- Mental decline/confusion
- Difficulty thinking and understanding
- Delusion
- Forgetfulness
- Making things up
- Difficulty concentrating
- Inability to create new memories
- Inability to recognize common things
Some of the behavior, mood and psychological changes include, but are not limited to:
- Becoming aggressive
- Getting angry
- Mood swings
- Being depressed
Age
One of the best known risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease is age. In fact, people’s risk of developing this disease doubles every 5 years after age 65. Since people are living longer, this only adds to the possibility of more people being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Americans over 65 will grow from 13 percent of the population today to nearly 20 percent in 2030. In addition, those older than 85 are the fastest growing age group, with the highest risk of getting Alzheimer’s.
Genetics
Researchers have found that genes play an important role in the development of the Alzheimer’s disease. Genetics that are linked to early-onset only account for 5 percent of people with the disease. However, late-onset, which is the most common type, typically occurs after age 60. Researchers are still trying to find out what causes the late-onset of Alzheimer’s and it’s not yet completely understood. There are a number of genetic factors that could increase the risk of getting late-onset Alzheimer’s, but more studies are needed.
Risk
One of the risks of a person with Alzheimer’s disease is wandering away from home, or the caregiver. Therefore, the caregiver will need to find out how to keep the person from wandering. Eventually, this could cause a great deal of stress on the caregiver and, possibly, affect their health as well. One of the options to help alleviate this stress is to have the person with Alzheimer’s live in a memory care facility. However, this is a very important and difficult decision and should only be decided by the caregiver and other love ones of the person with Alzheimer’s.
Currently, Alzheimer’s is not curable, but there are medications and management strategies that may temporarily improve symptoms. Certain genes are linked to Alzheimer’s and age is one of the risk-factors for this disease that affects the person’s memory, behavior and health. With all that said, our population is living longer, so it’s important to continue Alzheimer’s research to find ways to help manage and, possibly, cure this terrible disease.
It’s recommended to consult with a healthcare professional to perform a thorough evaluation. To learn more about this disease, you can reference resources such as the Alzheimer’s Association website at http://www.alz.org.