Alzheimer disease

The disease is named after German scientist A. Alzheimer, who in 1906 described the changes in the brain tissue of 55-year-old woman who died, as they believed, from an unusual mental illness. The disease is progressive destruction of cells and tissues of the brain, especially of those sites, which are responsible for memory and thinking.Experts believe that Alzheimer's disease is associated with the violation of proper protein breakdown in the cell. As a result of accumulated excessive amounts of beta-amyloid protein, whose molecules stick together, as it were, and dying nerve cells. Thin connections between them are destroyed, and they can not transmit nerve impulses, which provide the ability of man to intellectual activity.It is now established that Alzheimer's disease is programmed genetically. If a person has the genes predisposing to the disease, the disease is almost impossible to avoid.The disease usually lasts 5-10 years. Symptoms are usually slow but steady progress. Progressively lost cognitive functions (memory, judgment, abstract thinking, mathematical ability). There is a disintegration of emotional and personality as a whole, lost motor skills, and especially speech. The patient is no longer even recognize friends and relatives, to adequately respond to his surroundings, he was bedridden, unable to take care of themselves.Often the disease is "start" after a head injury, disrupting the delicate connections between the brain cells themselves. Contribute to the progression of the disease started getting into unfamiliar places alone for a long time, or an excessive amount of external stimuli and stimuli (eg, meetings with a large number of strangers), stay in the dark, infectious diseases, surgery and anesthesia, hot weather (excessive heat, loss of liquid), drinking large amounts of drugs.The disease affects all social groups and is not associated with belonging to a certain stratum of society, sex, national origin, living in certain geographic areas. Although the disease is most often observed in elderly people, found it among the younger. However, the manifestations of Alzheimer's disease depends largely on how the person was before the illness, that is, from his personality, physical condition and lifestyle.DiagnosisSpecial test, which would allow accurately diagnose Alzheimer's disease does not exist. Therefore, you must first rule out other diseases that can cause symptoms of dementia - a tumor, trauma, infection, metabolic disorders, and psychiatric disorders such as depression or anxiety syndromes. But even after the exclusion of other diseases diagnosed Alzheimer's disease remains conjectural. It can only confirm the microscopic examination of brain tissue, which is usually done posthumously. Only occasionally is a study conducted from a living person, which do a biopsy of brain tissue.TreatmentWhen the disease begins to progress, we must use every opportunity to support the patient's ability to self-service, to reduce its internal discomfort and isolation from others. Can help new and better-chosen points, improved hearing aids, easy to use radio, books with pictures and big letters. We must find a useful and accessible to the patient activity, taking into account its needs and opportunities caregivers. Sick people are constantly in need of comfort and reassurance, you can not criticize, make hurtful remarks.At present, an effective means of preventing or treating Alzheimer's disease are being developed. Modern drugs are generally prolong the activity of those brain cells that have not yet destroyed the pathological process. In the future you can imagine it would be possible to develop something like a vaccine that will enter the predisposition to the disease for people to turn against the body's immune production of beta-amyloid. It is also possible transplantation of new nerve cells in the brain of a patient. To prevent rejection, for such a transplant would take a very human cells obtained by cloning. Finally, one can hope that will soon be possible to stimulate the reproduction of the patient's own nerve cells to replace dead. In 1998, thanks to research by Swedish and American scientists, it became known that nerve cells in the human brain can recover. It only remains to find the key to this process and learn how to manage it.Hospitalization in Alzheimer's disease - an expensive process, which sometimes gives only a negative effect (accelerates the progression of the disease). If any change in the environment, caring staff, changes in medication for the disease is usually heavier. Hospitalization is indicated for the treatment of choice, which is dangerous to hold an outpatient basis, in the absence of careful medical monitoring of patients, as well as confusion, psychotic manifestations and antisocial behavior.The study by American scientists showed that Alzheimer's disease is much less common in people with higher education: apparently, memory training in youth ensures the development of "additional" nerve cells that resist disease. It was found that the disease is not related to smoking, alcohol, tea, coffee, taking painkillers and heart, the level of physical activity, number of children, family and social status. However, the risk of disease was significantly reduced in women using the female sex hormones (estrogens), especially in high doses and for a long time.It is known that estrogen improves blood flow to the brain and nerve cells in glucose uptake, promote their growth. Perhaps, in some way they can influence the properties of beta-amyloid in the body, such as reducing its toxicity. In addition, estrogens are destroying the substance of which is formed in the cells of the protein and reduce its concentration. Studies of western scientists have shown that the prevalence of different forms of Alzheimer's disease in men and women differ significantly. Apparently, this is connected with the use of estrogen - in Russian patients, these differences were not found, because we do not usually older women taking estrogen.