Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease and the most common cause of dementia. Memory Loss and difficulties in problem solving, thinking etc could be main symptoms of the disorder.
Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease, in which, proteins build up in the brain to form structures called ‘plaques’ and ‘tangles’. This leads to the loss of connections between nerve cells, and eventually to the death of nerve cells and loss of brain tissue. People with Alzheimer’s lack some important chemicals in their brain and these chemical messengers help to transmit signals around the brain. When there is a shortage of them, the signals are not transmitted as effectively.
Facts of Alzheimer’s disease:
Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in United States.
More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease.
1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.
Every 66 seconds someone in the United States develops the disease.
Medication is very expensive.
It kills more than breast and prostate cancer combined.
Mostly, women are at high risk.
1 in 9 people age 65 and older has Alzheimer’s Disease.
Among people age 70, 61 percent of those with alzheimer’s are expected to die before age compared with 30 percent of those without Alzheimer’s.