Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

Introduction:

It is a neurological disorder that is the leading cause of 60-70% cases of dementia (memory loss) around the globe. Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neuro-degenerative disease that starts slowly and worsens with the passing time. The major symptoms of this disease include difficulty in remembering recent events, mood swings, mis-management of the self-care and behavioral issues. At the end stage of this disease, body functions are lost thus leading to death. The affected people usually rely on others for assistance. The causes of this disease are poorly understood. The symptoms may be improved by some physical and psychological exercises. In this article, the discussion will be about the symptoms, causes, diagnosis and management of this disease.

Signs and symptoms of AD:

The disease is divided into four stages. These are:

• Pre-dementia
• Early AD
• Moderate AD
• Advanced AD

Pre-dementia:

In the start of the AD the thing that is misunderstood is the memory loss being related to age or stress that the person doesn’t remember after placing the thing or may also not remember the recent events. These symptoms are due to the condition of pre-dementia in the case of Alzheimer’s disease but not due to ageing. The symptoms for the early stages of AD may include the impairments in:

• Attentiveness
• Planning
• Flexibility
• Abstract thinking
• Semantic memory

Early AD:

In the early stages of AD, the impairments in the learning and memory ability are mostly seen. The other symptoms may be:

• Difficulties with language
• Perception impairment
• Difficulty in the execution of the movements

AD affects the new facts and memory to a larger e