With an aging global population, it is not surprising the focus of attention has been placed squarely on the shoulders of Alzheimer’s disease; currently the most prevalent type of age related dementia affecting the elderly today. Alzheimer’s is estimated to affect 1 in 10 people over the age of 65 causing problems with the memory centers of the mind; 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; it is a complex disease that is not yet fully understood.
Studies show that your greatest risk of acquiring Alzheimer’s is advancing age. Many people experiencing the first signs of Alzheimer’s are unwilling to admit to themselves or others that there is anything wrong; this can be a difficult time for family members who need to know what is wrong.
At the moment all forms of dementia treatment are pretty much the same and that includes Alzheimer’s disease. Despite the studies, there is no permanent treatment for the condition but there are a number of drugs which can help with the condition. At the moment, three drugs are used routinely to treat sufferers of Alzheimer’s, all of which have been approved by the FDA - Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine; improvements have shown to help the average sufferer’s cognitive abilities by up to six months.
Another drug, Memantine, a relative of the older anti-influenza drug Amantadine, is proving successful at slowing down the mental decline of sufferers; patients with mild to severe Alzheimer’s who are already receiving Donepezil are now given Memantine as an alternative. Memantine is the first medicine to show such positive results with sufferers with few problems associated with its use; as 80 percent of the drug is passed in urine unchanged there is very little left to cause any harm.
Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be one of the largest public health problems, primarily due to an increase in the life expectancy of people in the world; this disease has risen to the status of fourth most lethal killer in America. That is not the only problem because medical costs continue to increase and is something that needs some long term consideration; it is already costing 40 billion dollars every year in the USA, with this figure expected to increase. The National Institute on Aging spends half of its annual funding on research into this age related disease; there are currently hundreds of substances being tested for treatments around the world.
One of the few factors that you can change to alter your risk of developing dementia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Some researchers into the disease have found that patients who are happy and healthy with Alzheimer’s, slow down the rate of their mental decline. At the time of writing this condition primarily affects men and women over sixty years of age; unfortunately it has started to claim the occasional younger victim.