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Unravel the truth about Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that affects the brain; unfortunately, it often overshadows the other forms of dementia. If you spent time with a person with Alzheimer's disease, you will see a gradual decay in their ability to remember; although current diagnosis is not perfect, the accuracy levels are up to 94 percent at best, 87 percent at worst. Discovered in 1906 by German physician Alois Alzheimer, the world's focus on this disease is only about 30 years old; its effects are not fully understood even today with all the research that has been carried out.Studies show that your greatest risk of acquiring Alzheimer's is advancing age. Part of the problem in the early stages of Alzheimer's is the patient's reluctance to admit to anyone or themselves that they are experiencing problems; this often cause delays in the diagnosis.Alzheimer's disease is currently treated exactly the same as other forms of dementia. There is no definitive treatment at present, but some drugs improve the symptoms or stall their progression. The three main medications currently approved for treatments of Alzheimer's disease are: Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine; these have helped many patients with improvements in their mental faculties although this is only in the short term.Recently, a drug called Memantine has proving to be effective in slowing down the mental decay seen in patients in the later stages of the disease; this drug slows down the mental deterioration so those already prescribed Donepezil with severe symptoms are now prescribed Memantine instead. Fortunately, Memantine has few side effects and so far it is the only drug that has proved to be of real benefit to patients with severe symptoms; most of the drug is passed out again when the patient urinates (about 80 percent), virtually without any change taking place.Because people are living longer Alzheimer's disease has become a serious health problem that governments must face; this disease is now the fourth largest cause of death in America alone. Although contracting the disease is a tragedy, the cost of treatment and care for sufferers is causing economic vibrations everywhere; it is already costing 40 billion dollars every year in the USA, with this figure expected to increase. Another large body, the National Institute on Aging spent almost half of its yearly research fund into the condition; there are currently hundreds of substances being tested for treatments around the world.Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is one proven method you can use to reduce the risks of contracting dementia. In fact researchers involved in  medical school rankings   believe the happier and healthier someone is with Alzheimer's, the slower his or her decline. At the moment, the disease is still primarily affecting the aged; there have however, been recent occasions (although rare) where a younger person has developed this condition.