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Alzheimers Information
A Brief History of Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's disease, named after the German psychologist Alois Alzheimer's, seems to be a disease of the twentieth century, but the brain degeneration, cognitive impairment and disturbing behavioral and psychiatric problems which characterize the disease have most likely been around for centuries. A brief lesson in Alzheimer's disease history tells us that while Dr. Alzheimer's is the disease's namesake, Alzheimer's colleague Emil Kraepelin played an equally important role in the identification of the disease. Kraepelin isolated and grouped together the symptoms of the disorder, suggesting they were a unique disease process, while Alzheimer was the first to understand what was actually happening in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. He discovered unusual plaques and tangles in the brain of one of his patients, a fifty year old woman, who exhibited the symptoms of the disorder identified by Kraepelin.
A Peak into the Brain of an Alzheimer's Patient
What is happening in the brain of an Alzheimer's patient to cause all of the unpleasant cognitive and behavioral symptoms of the disease? Alois Alzheimer was the first to find the strange plaques and tangles characteristic of the disease in the brain of one of his patients during an autopsy. He gave his name to the disease despite the contribution his colleague Emil Kraepelin made by isolating and identifying the symptoms of the disease. For years, Alzheimer's disease could only be diagnosed with a high degree of accuracy post-mortem. Now researchers are learning more about what exactly is happening in the brain to cause the disease and why those strange plaques and tangles develop in the first place.
Alzheimer's and Drugs: Exploring Treatment Options
Alzheimer's disease is a devastating brain disease that scientists find difficult not only to understand but also to treat. By studying the effects of the disease process in Alzheimer's patients' brains-a combination of plaques between neurons and tangles within neurons-scientists are able to experiment with a variety of drugs to slow the damage to the brain and to improve the quality and duration of patients' lives. The effectiveness of drugs for a person with Alzheimer's disease, however, is debatable, and a cure remains as elusive as the cause.
Alzheimer's disease: Communication Tools for Caregivers
As Alzheimer's disease progresses, patients often lose the ability to express themselves, increasing their feelings of isolation and frustration. Communication difficulties can contribute to the aggressive or inappropriate behaviors often associated with the disease. Similarly, caregivers may feel anxious and depressed over their inability to communicate with their loved ones. Learning simple strategies for communicating with Alzheimer's patients can make the process less difficult and thereby improve the relationship between caregivers and patients.
Alzheimer's disease: Knowing What to Expect and How to Cope
Alzheimer's disease slowly robs sufferers of their ability to think and function. The degeneration is a process that exists on a continuum from no signs and symptoms to debilitating impairment. By breaking the process down into stages, patients and their families will be better able to understand where they are and what they can expect, and hopefully, this awareness will help them cope with what lies ahead. An understanding of the Stages of Alzheimer's Disease also improves the quality of community support and nursing home care.
Alzheimers News
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RELATED ARTICLES
Choosing a Nursing Home for an Alzheimer's Patient - It's not a Cop-Out
Guilt is the biggest emotion a caregiver feels when they simply can no longer care for a loved one afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. It is important to know that as the caregiver, you have done everything you possibly can to love and nurture your family member; however, dealing with the progressiveness of the disease ends up being more than a one-person job. As symptoms progress, it is often a twenty-four an hour day job and no one person can or should shoulder that responsibility alone.
Dealing with Alzheimer's disease: Sources of Support for Caregivers
When a loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, caregivers face an incredible amount of stress, anxiety, and guilt over the obstacles they will face and the decisions they will have to make in the future. They go through a grief process that could last for years as they encounter the slow degeneration and ultimate death of a loved one. Caregivers must realize that they have to be emotionally, physically and spiritually healthy themselves before they can properly care for anyone else. In order to attain this level of health, caregivers must create a firm foundation of support for themselves based on life-sustaining wellness behaviors.
Depression and Alzheimer's disease
Many people who suffer with Alzheimer's disease also suffer with depression. This can be due to many reasons, not all of them connected to the Alzheimer's disease problem.
In the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, the sufferer is usually aware that they have memory impairment and this can often leave them confused and frightened about their future. Alzheimer's disease is a terrifying illness, and the knowledge of what their future may hold can often lead to the first steps of depressive disease.
Eating with Alzheimer's Loss of Appetite & Tips for Carers
Caring for an individual suffering from Alzheimer's disease can be very challenging especially when the carer is aiming to ensure that the person is receiving a healthy balanced diet. Very often the individual loses interest in food, whether this is in the early stages for example due to depression or in the later stages when the person does not realise they are hungry or thirsty.
Helping your Children Understand Alzheimer's
Grandparents are often a child or teenager's favorite people. Grandparents indulge their grandchildren and listen to them. They have the patience to play Go Fish endlessly and they can tell a great story. But what happens when the grandparent starts becoming more of a child than their own grandchildren? How can you help your kids understand Alzheimer's and how to cope with the knowledge that grandma or grandpa will soon not know them or be able to take care of themselves? It is a hard process, but there are some things you can control and talk with your kids about.
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