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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
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With aging, the brain can get damaging diseases which affect memory and behavior. The most important disease is Alzheimer's – a form of dementia that affects over 4 million people in the United States today.
Dementia is a condition of the brain leading to problems with:
People with dementia, even in the early stages, may have trouble with driving.
Dementia has many causes, and only one of those is Alzheimer's. It's the same way with headaches. Migraine is just one disease that can cause headaches.
Even healthy people start having problems with memory as they get older. These probably begin in the 30s but become more frequent after the age of 60. The important difference is that in dementia the memory problem interferes with day-to-day activities at work and at home. With healthy aging, memory problems usually do not cause a problem with daily life. A patient with dementia may forget he wears glasses while a healthy older person may forget where he put his glasses.
Many people with Alzheimer's disease are not aware of their memory loss. Often they will deny the seriousness of the problem with memory, and often their family will deny it too.
It is important that people with symptoms of dementia be evaluated to determine the cause of the illness. This can be done by a doctor who specialized in neurology, psychiatry, geriatrics, or internal or family medicine.
There are other causes of memory loss and brain-function problems that are not related to Alzheimer's disease. Many causes may be completely reversible if recognized early. The most common causes of reversible dementias are:
Medications - It is common for older people to have memory problems because they are taking more than one medication, and the different medications may interact with each other.
Organ System Disorders - Disorders of any organ system (such as the heart, lungs, liver, kidney or endocrine glands) can also cause dementia and may be reversible if properly recognized.
Poisoning - Dementia also can be caused by poisoning from lead, carbon monoxide (from space heaters in the home) or poorly ventilated furnaces.
Alcohol Abuse - Alcohol abuse is also a common cause of dementia.
Alzheimer's disease usually affects people over the age of 70. It begins with slow loss of memory for recent events, bit by bit. People with this disease usually can remember events in the distant past. They also may have a hard time finding words and remembering names, and finding their way around. Their personality can change too.
In the early stages, Alzheimer's disease can be difficult to diagnose and the only signs that one can see are changes in memory. In the later stages, a person will have problems with:
If a person or a loved one develops Alzheimer's, they should not lose hope. There are several treatments these days for Alzheimer's disease. It is important for anyone experiencing memory loss to be evaluated so the proper diagnosis and treatment can be made before the disease progresses too far.
For more information concerning Alzheimer's disease or dementia, contact the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Department of Neurology at 216.368.1912.
This article is a NetWellness exclusive. 
Last Reviewed: Feb 20, 2008
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Robert P Friedland, MD Professor, Chief of Neurogeriatrics University Memory and Cognition Center University Hospitals School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University |
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