What Is Alzheimer's Disease? Breaking Down The 3 Symptoms

World Alzheimer’s Day is observed on the 21st of September every year to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s-related conditions, such as dementia. It is a health condition responsible for declining memory and cognitive functions. This brain disorder can impact your ability to carry out daily chores and simple tasks. This disease can also cause dementia in older adults. The prevalence of Alzheimer’s continues to rise, making it imperative to understand this ailment.

What you need to know:

What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease
Understanding the causes of Alzheimer’s disease
Recognizing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
Diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s disease

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that gets worse over time. It causes your brain cells to shrink and then die. Most people with this condition report that the symptoms first appear in the mid-60s or later. This disease is named after Alois Alzheimer, who noticed some changes in the brain tissues of a patient, including many plaques and tangles in her brain and a loss of connection between the neurons in the brain, which are responsible for transmitting messages between various parts of your body. This condition affects the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus, which results in declining memory. Later, it attacks your cerebral cortex, which is necessary for language, reasoning and social behavior.

Risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease

Here are some factors that can increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease:

Age: Old age is one of the biggest risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. It does not always come with old age, but as you grow older, the chances of developing it increase.
Family history and genetics: You are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease if your father, sister, or family members have it too.
Down syndrome: People with Down syndrome who have 21 chromosomes are more at risk of developing Alzheimer’s as they get older.
Poor sleep pattern: A lack of sleep in your daily routine is linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Understanding the causes of Alzheimer’s disease

When your brain protein fails to function normally, this changes how your neurons function and triggers a different series of events where these neurons get damaged and lose connection. These brain proteins are also called tangles and plaque. Apart from brain protein, Alzheimer’s disease can also be caused due to certain factors, including:

Cardiovascular issues like heart strokes and high blood pressure.
Diabetes
Obesity
Excessive smoking
High cholesterol
Traumatic injuries to your head

Recognizing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease

Here are some of the Alzheimer’s disease symptoms that you might experience:

Memory loss

It’s normal to forget about something occasionally, but memory loss related to Alzheimer’s can get significantly worse. It can also impact your muscle memory, restricting you from performing your tasks. If you have Alzheimer’s, you are more likely to:

Repeat statements and questions over and over
Forget conversations or events
Misplace items forgetfully
Forget the names of your family members
Have difficulty finding the right words to express yourself

Difficulty in concentrating

Alzheimer’s disease can also make it difficult to concentrate or think about something in particular, primarily abstract concepts such as numbers and ideology. For example, you may face difficulty tracking your finances and paying bills on time.

Changes in behavior

Alzheimer’s disease can also affect your behavior and mood. Here are some of the changes in behavior you are more likely to experience:

Depression
Mood swings
Anger
Changes in your sleeping pattern
Delusions
Aimless wandering

Diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s disease

A medical professional may ask some of the following questions to understand your state:

Medical history
Ability to carry out tasks
Mood changes
Medication habits

Based on the inferences they draw, they can ask you to get a neurological test coupled with other brain imaging tests like MRI, CT scan and tomography to determine the stage of your Alzheimer’s disease.

While Alzheimer’s disease cannot be treated completely, you can take measures to avoid dementia by incorporating certain healthy habits into your lifestyle such as:

Eat a healthy diet with low saturated fat
Exercise regularly
Maintain your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Now that you know “What is Alzheimer’s Disease?”, with proper knowledge and understanding, you can also fight Alzheimer’s with healthy habits and an active lifestyle.

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