How to identify Alzheimer's Disease and treat it

It can be really stressful for both the individual and family members are friends to deal with memory lost. Memory lost is associated with some form of illness or diseases associated with the brain. One such disease is Alzheimer. Alzheimer disease, sometimes called AD is the most common form of dementia, a group of disorders that impairs mental functioning. (Dementia literally means loss of mentation, or thinking.) At the moment, Alzheimer's is progressive and irreversible. Abnormal changes in the brain worsen over time, eventually interfering with many aspects of brain function. Memory loss is one of the earliest symptoms, along with a gradual decline of other intellectual and thinking abilities, called cognitive functions, and changes in personality or behavior.
AD begins slowly. It first involves the parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language. AD usually begins after age 60. The risk goes up as you get older. Your risk is also higher if a family member has had the disease.

How to identify Alzheimer Disease?
Some change in memory is normal as we grow older, but the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are more than simple lapses in memory, persons with Alzheimer’s experience difficulties communicating, learning, thinking and reasoning — problems severe enough to have an impact on an individual's work, social activities and family life. Alzheimer Disease is often mistaken with normal age-related memory, which is closely related to Alzheimer Disease as persons normally experiences memory lost, the symptoms of Alzheimer Disease are:
 Memory loss. It is the most common form of the disease. Persons often forget their relative’s names and names of persons they know.
 Difficulty performing familiar tasks. They often finds it hard to plan or complete everyday tasks. Individuals may lose track of the steps involved in preparing a meal, placing a telephone call or playing a game. They occasionally forget why they came into a room or what they planned to say.
 Problems with language. They often forget simple words or substitute unusual words, making their speech or writing hard to understand.
 Disorientation to time and place. They can become lost in their own neighborhood, forget where they are and how they got there, and not know how to get back home. They might even forget the day of the week
 Poor or decreased judgment. They may dress inappropriately, wearing several layers on a warm day or little clothing in the cold. They may show poor judgment, like giving away large sums of money to telemarketers.
 Problems with abstract thinking. They may have unusual difficulty performing complex mental tasks, like forgetting what numbers are for and how they should be used.
 Misplacing things. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places: an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl.
 Changes in mood or behavior. They may show rapid mood swings – from calm to tears to anger – for no apparent reason.
 Changes in personality. Personalities can change dramatically. They may become extremely confused, suspicious, fearful or dependent on a family member.
 Loss of initiative. They may become very passive, sitting in front of the TV for hours, sleeping more than usual or not wanting to do usual activities.

Eventually, they need total care. This can cause great stress for family members who must care for them. If you are someone you have experience these symptoms you could have Alzheimer. Although there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, nor is there any way of slowing the progress of the disease, there are treatment options available that can minimize or stabilize patients’ symptoms, and in some cases delay the necessity of nursing home care. Doctors may prescribe medication for memory and loss of language function. Some medications are designed to maintain the levels of a brain chemical which is essential for memory, judgment and learning. Medications are also available that delay the breakdown of AD.
Recently a growing number of herbal remedies, vitamins and other dietary supplements are promoted as memory enhancers or treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related diseases. If you are someone you know have AD, you should seek a doctor before undertaking any treatments. If you have the disease, all is not lost you can get help.