|
Articles » Disease-&-Illness >> View Article
|
 |
|
 |
| Alzheimer's is a Complex Disease |
By:
je Dunn |
|
|
Regrettably as you get older so does the amount of conditions that seem to affect you and the most prevalent type of dementia affecting seniors is now Alzheimer's. Studies now show that of people aged 65 and over, 10% are now suffering from Alzheimer's disease which affects the memory centers of their brain but the ability to diagnose the problem has improved with an accuracy figure of anywhere between 87% and 94%.
The probelem is Alzheimer's is a complex disease that is still not fully comprehended although the world focus has been on it for over 30 years, despite the fact it was actually identified in 1906 by a German doctor, Alois Alzheimer.
There is an increased chance of developing this disease the older you grow - research into the disorder have shown. Alzheimer's diagnosis is often delayed by the person having symptoms of Alzheimer's disease themselves, when they either fail to acknowledge the signs or decide to ignore them.
Where treatment is involved, it is addressed in the same manner as other types of dementia. regrettably there isn't an exclusive Alzheimer's treatment available presently although there are a few drugs that can help some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's.
A small number of drugs approved by the FDA including: Tacrine, Donepezil and Rivastigmine have demonstrated some improvement in people with Alzheimer's disease but they are short lived and mostly don't help the intellectual powers for much longer than six months.
There is a new drug though founded on the anti-influenza medication Amantadine, called Memantine, which seems to be slowing down the mental impairment for those who are in the later degrees of Alzheimer's disease. This new drug Memantine is being offered to patients with Alzheimer's disease who have been administered Donepezil.
The side effects with Memantine are low, and it's the first drug demonstrated to have an effect on the symptoms of moderate to severe Alzheimer's with more than 80% of the Memantine excreted and unaltered by the kidneys.
This disease is being treated by authorities as a major medical challenge since the general age of the industrialized world's population is growing and is now the 4th largest cause of death in America.
The economic cost of treating, providing care, and treatment for Alzheimer's disease is currently costing over billion annually. Nearly half the yearly budget was used on Alzheimer's research in the previous year by the National Institute on Aging.
Around the world there are in excess of three hundred compounds at different levels of testing into the handling of Alzheimer's disease.
In reducing the opportunity of catching Alzheimer's, it's essential to adopt a healthy lifestyle and maintain it. Although not entirely established yet, researchers studying Alzheimer's disease sufferers have noticed that those who stay healthy and happy have a slower rate of decline. Fortunately Alzheimer's disease is still primarily affecting elderly people but there have been recent occasions where younger people have developed it. |
|
| The economic cost of treating Alzheimer's Disease |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
