Alzheimer's Disease: A Common Cause of Dementia

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for between fifty to seventy percent of all dementia cases. Approximately four million Americans exhibit Alzheimer's symptoms. Alzheimer's disease is usually diagnosed after age sixty; the average age of Alzheimer's sufferers is eighty.

Alzheimer's disease, like other forms of dementia, is characterized by memory loss and a progressive deterioration of mental functions. Memory loss caused by Alzheimer's may be mistaken for the natural memory loss that comes with age. As the disease progresses, however, memory loss worsens, language abilities decline, and planning or thinking abstractly becomes increasingly difficult. Eventually memory loss and mental functioning become so impaired that full-time care is required.

The cause of Alzheimer's is unknown, but the disease has been linked to certain types of brain lesions. These brain lesions were discovered in 1906 by a German doctor named Alois Alzheimer. Dr. Alzheimer noticed the distinct brain lesions during an autopsy of a woman who had died with dementia. Even today, the only way to definitively diagnosis Alzheimer's disease is to examine the brain for these brain lesions after death.

 

In addition to amyloid plaque brain lesions, another characteristic of Alzheimer's disease is low levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine plays an important role in memory recall and cognitive function.

 

 

This section is divided into multiple articles, covering topics such as changes in brain functions and Alzheimer's treatment, with each listed in the menu to the left. To research other conditions that cause dementia or associated health issues, please use the morefocus search tool.