Alzheimer’s Care at Diamond Bar California

Two proven risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease are age and family history. The disease usually strikes after age 65, and risk increases with advancing age. Having a family member with Alzheimer’s increases one’s risk, particularly if the relative has the early-onset form of the disease (beginning before age 65). However, half of people with the far more common late-onset form have no family history. Many non-genetic-so-called “environmental”–factors may also increase one’s risk, and a great deal of research is aimed at understanding these factors.

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Today, it is estimated that about five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and about 360,000 people are newly diagnosed every year. Alzheimer’s affects about 10 percent of people ages 65 and up, and the prevalence doubles roughly every 10 years after age 65. Half of the population ages 85 and up may have Alzheimer’s. Because the population of the U.S. is aging, the number of people with Alzheimer’s will continue to rise unless something can be done to stem the rise. At current rates, experts believe that as many as 16 million Americans will have the disease by the year 2050.

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The progressive loss of cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease is accompanied by pathologic changes in the brain. One of these is the formation of plaques-sometimes described as tiny “brillo pads”-in the space between nerve cells. The plaques are comprised of a brain protein called beta amyloid. Another protein, which normally channels chemical messages inside nerve cells, deforms and collapses into neurofibrillary tangles that appear like twisted bits of thread inside nerve cells. As the disease progresses, nerve cells in several brain areas shrink and die, including cells that normally produce critical neutransmitters, the chemical messengers that relay brain signals from one nerve cell to another. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that is deficient in people with Alzheimer’s. As nerve cells continue to die, the brain itself shrinks and the wrinkles along its surface become smoother.

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Scientists have made significant progress in understanding the possible causes of Alzheimer’s disease, but many questions remain. It is likely that many factors, both inherited and environmental, interact in complex, poorly understood ways to cause the disease. In addition to investigating what might trigger Alzheimer’s in some people, scientists have identified a number of brain changes that are associated with Alzheimer’s. These include the characteristic plaques and tangles around and inside nerve cells that were first described by the German physician Alois Alzheimer in 1906.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in industrialized nations. Dementia is a brain disorder that interferes with a person’s ability to carry out everyday activities.

• The brain of a person with Alzheimer disease has abnormal areas containing clumps (senile plaques) and bundles (neurofibrillary tangles) of abnormal proteins. These clumps and tangles destroy connections between brain cells.
• This usually affects the parts of the brain that control cognitive (intellectual) functions such as thought, memory, and language.
• Levels of certain chemicals that carry messages around the brain (neurotransmitters) are low.
• The resulting losses in intellectual ability are called dementia when they are severe enough to interfere with everyday functioning.

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Tip # 3 Contributed By: Cathy Ortega, Alzheimer

Tip # 2 Contributed By: Elenor Teano

Interactive artwork is a terrific intervention that dementia caregivers can use at home or in a facility setting. The principle behind this specialized artwork is simple; it is art, usually hung on the wall that involves the spectator in some…

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