Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s is a progressive illness that makes cells of the brain to degenerate and die (Meyer et al., 2016). Alzheimer’s disease is among the causes of dementia- a progressive decline in behavior, thinking, and social skills that help a person to function alone. This disease destroys memory and normal functioning of the mental part of a person.

Assessment of Alzheimer disease

Alzheimer’s disease symptoms progress slowly for several years. Therefore there are early symptoms, middle symptoms, and late symptoms of the disease.

In the early stage of the disease, there is the occurrence of early symptoms like memory lapses hence cannot remember recent events and conversations, misplaces items, forget objects and places names. People with this disease also ask a lot of questions repetitively, cannot make decisions because of poor judgment, and becomes less flexible to try new things (Edmonds et al., 2018). During this early stage, there are frequent signs of mood changes like agitation, increased anxiety, and times of confusion.

In the middle stage of the disease, the memory loss becomes worse because the disease has progressed a bit. Sometimes patients with this condition find it hard to remember the names of persons and their family members. Other symptoms in this stage include disorientation and increased confusion, repetitive and obsessive behaviors, becomes delusional about things and people, starts to get speech and language problem (Aphasia), disturbed sleep, frequent mood swings, difficult making judgments about distances and spatial tasks and finally having hallucinations (Edmonds et al., 2018). At this stage, there is decreased functional ability, and a person with this condition needs help in performing basic tasks such as eating, bathing, walking, and even going to the toilet.

In the later stage of this condition, the symptoms become more severe. these symptoms cause a lot of distress to the person with the condition and also to their caregivers. Delusions and hallucinations become more often at this stage. At this stage, people suffering from this condition becomes more violent and demanding. The other symptoms at this stage are dysphagia, the problem with changing positions and moving, unintentional weight loss because of decreased nutrient intake, urinary, and bowel incontinence, loss of speech gradually, the problem with both short and long-term memories (Edmonds et al., 2018). During this period, such patients need full-time assistance and care because they cannot function independently.

Causes of Alzheimer Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is believed to be caused by the build-up of abnormal proteins around and in the cells of the brain. Amyloid protein is thought to be one of the abnormal proteins that accumulate to form plaques around the cells of the brain (Hunter & Brayn, 2018). Another protein called tau makes tangles around the brain cells with their deposits. These plaque deposits affect the cells of the brain, which affects neurotransmitters that are involved in message and signal sending between the cells of the brain. The levels of one acetylcholine and neurotransmitters are lower in people with Alzheimer’s disease. As time goes on, various parts f the brain shrinks. The first is of the brain to be affected by the one responsible for memories. As the disease progresses, other parts of the brain and brain cells are also affected and start to degenerate and die eventually.

Although there is no exact trigger of Alzheimer’s disease, there are certain factors that increase the risk of getting this condition. Age is one of the most contributing risk factors to Alzheimer’s disease. After the age of 65, the chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease doubles every five years. It is not the older people who get Alzheimer’s disease, but there is also a small percentage of people under 65 who have this condition, approximately 1 out of 20 people. Those affected under the age of 65 are believed to have young-onset Alzheimer’s disease, which mostly affects persons at the age of 40.

Family history is also among the risk factors for developing Alzheimer’s disease. In cases where there was a parent or a family member with these conditions, and the genes have been inherited from generations, there are chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease (Lacour et al., 2017). Few families get this condition because of the inheritance of a single gene, and this gene increases the chances of developing this condition.

Down’s syndrome disease makes people at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The reason behind this is that the faulty gene that is associated with Down’s syndrome can also make plaques of amyloid protein accumulate in the cells of the brain as time goes on, which can result in Alzheimer’s disease in few people with Down’s syndrome.

The head injury also puts people at risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease. Both mild and severe head injuries affect the brain cells and sometimes make some of the brain cells die, which makes a person start experiencing memory loss and a lot of confusion, and this eventually makes some people develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Certain lifestyle factors that result in cardiovascular disease are also associated with risks of getting Alzheimer’s disease. These lifestyle factors are obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. Other factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease but at a lower rate are hearing loss, loneliness, sedentary lifestyles, and untreated depression.

Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease gives time and chance to make plans and start treatments early enough before it has progressed to the later stages where the functionality levels are a bit lower. There is no single simple and accurate test for Alzheimer’s disease, but a combination of many tests helps to rule out other conditions and know if the person is suffering from this disease.

The specialist first uses the mental ability test by assessing mental abilities such as thinking and memory capacities. The cognitive assessment test looks at long and short-term memories, attention and concentration span, communication and language skills, awareness of places, and time and finally visuospatial abilities (Shaughnessy et al., 2019).

A physical exam can also help to check if a person has Alzheimer’s disease or not. This exam looks at nutrition, alcohol intake, previous medications, checking blood pressure, pulse and temperature, listening to heart and lungs collect blood and urine for laboratory tests. Neurological exam helps to evaluate to check if the person has brain disorders signal. Sometimes physicians look at speech, sensation, eye movements, muscle tone, coordination, strength and reflexes. Other tests that help to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease are a CT scan of the brain from different angles.MRI scan also produces detailed brain images that help to rule out or rule in the condition.

Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease has no cure, but there certain medications that help alleviate the symptoms. One of the drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s disease is Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors (Parsons et al., 2013). This drug helps by increasing acetylcholine levels, which allows nerve cells to communicate and transmit messages with one another. Alzheimer’s disease early and mid-stage symptoms are treated by galantamine, donepezil, and rivastigmine drugs. These drugs helps improve the symptoms from getting worse. Galantamine, donepezil, and rivastigmine medications cause vomiting, nausea, and appetite loss. These side effects get better within two weeks of taking the medication.

Another medication that helps with Alzheimer’s disease is Memantine. Memantine is not Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Memantine drug is used for moderate and severe Alzheimer’s illness (Parsons et al., 2013). Memantine is suitable for those patients who cannot tolerate Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Memantine side effects are dizziness, headaches, and constipation but are temporary. Antidepressants can also be used in cases where there is depression.

Other types of treatment of Alzheimer’s disease involve therapies and activities. Some therapies are cognitive stimulation therapy that entails taking part in activities of a certain group that are designed to help in memory and problem- solving techniques and skills. Cognitive rehabilitation also helps to treat some symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. This rehabilitation involves the patients working closely with their therapist, caregivers, and relatives to achieve a certain set goal, like learning how to use a mobile phone. Reminiscence and storytelling help to treat certain symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Getting involved in groups that talk about past events and stories helps to improve memory keeping and thinking capacity, and this sometimes controls mood swings and wellbeing of the person.

Conclusion

Alzheimer’s disease is the most challenging memory loss condition that affects the aged above 65 years, and it’s difficult to diagnose and cure. Early detection of this condition helps to start medications and therapies that improve the symptoms associated with this condition and improve the quality of life and lengthen the life span.