Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. It can begin with simple forgetfulness, but may rapidly progress into more advanced symptoms, including confusion, profound memory loss, language disturbances, personality and behavior changes, impaired judgment and dementia. Alzheimer’s disease primarily affects older people, and in most cases, readily apparent symptoms appear after age 60.
There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, which is progressive and fatal. The disease begins in the area of the brain that affects recent memory and gradually spreads. As the disease advances, most people with Alzheimer’s disease eventually will need complete skilled nursing care, and the continued loss of brain function and related complications leads to death.
Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German doctor, discovered the disease in 1906. In examining the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness, Dr. Alzheimer found abnormal clumps of dark material (now called amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of fibers (now called neurofibrillary tangles), which are considered hallmarks of the disease. A third hallmark is the gradual loss of connections between nerve cells (neurons) in the brain, which leads to diminished cell function and cell death. As nerve cells die throughout the brain, affected regions begin to shrink. By the final stage of Alzheimer’s disease, brain tissue has shrunk significantly.
A leading scientific hypothesis is that beta amyloid is the primary underlying disease mechanism that drives the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. It is not clear what begins the process, but damage to the brain appears to begin as many as 10 to 20 years before any obvious symptom of the disease. Without early diagnosis and an effective treatment, the number of Alzheimer’s disease patients is expected to increase significantly as the U.S. population grows older. The number of people age 65 and older is expected to double from 36 million in 2003 to 72 million in 2030, and the number of Alzheimer’s disease patients doubles for every five-year interval beyond age 65.
Statistics
Although some patients may live up to 20 years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the average life expectancy after diagnosis is eight years. It is estimated that more than 5 million Americans and more than 24 million people worldwide, at the age of 60 years or older, suffer from some form of dementia.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association:
- Alzheimer's disease and dementia triple healthcare costs for Americans age 65 and older
- Every 70 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s disease
- Alzheimer's disease is the seventh-leading cause of death
- The direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer's and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid and businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year
Symptoms
The Alzheimer's Association lists 10 common warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease:
- Memory changes that disrupt daily life
- Challenges in planning or solving problems
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure
- Confusion with time or place
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
- New problems with words in speaking or writing
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
- Decreased or poor judgment
- Withdrawal from work or social activities
- Changes in mood and personality
Other Resources
Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary U.S. health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research, with a mission “to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.”
The Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable is a consortium of scientific thought-leaders working to facilitate the development and implementation of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Elan is a part of this Roundtable, which was convened by the Alzheimer’s Association in 2003.
The National Institute on Aging The Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center website provides current, comprehensive Alzheimer's disease (AD) information and resources from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).
Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) is the only public charity solely dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery and development of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive aging.
Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) is a global umbrella organization of Alzheimer's associations helping to establish and strengthen Alzheimer's organizations throughout the world, and to raise global awareness about Alzheimer's disease and all other causes of dementia.
Alzheimer's Europe is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the care and treatment of Alzheimer patients through intensified collaboration between its member associations.
The Alzheimer's Society of Ireland is a leading dementia-specific service provider, with services in communities all over Ireland.