What is the Prognosis for Alzheimers Disease?


Unfortunately, even with modern day medicine, the prognosis for Alzheimers disease is that it is an incurable, degenerative disease. However, according to recent studies there are variations in the prognosis of different patients. In fact, a patients symptoms are indicative of their prognosis.

Symptoms that May Indicate a Shorter Survival

There are certain symptoms that may indicate a person will have a shorter lifespan than other Alzheimers disease patients. Some of these indictors include: unsteadiness when walking; incontinence of urine; poor test scores on mental acuity tests; rapid decline during the first year they are diagnosed; wandering behaviors; and preexisting conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. Women also have a longer survival rate than men do when it comes to Alzheimers disease prognosis.

Treatments and Their Effects on Alzheimers Disease Prognosis

There are treatments for Alzheimers disease that may help those affected to retain their mental acuity longer. These treatments are generally seen as more effective when they are started at the earliest stages of the disease. Some treatments are relatively simple such as increasing the amount of time you walk per day. Other treatments may come in the form of medications. Whether or not a person is given certain medications or other treatments is dependent on their Alzheimers disease prognosis and its current stage. Treatment may also vary depending on the patient and their familys wishes.

There are several different medicines that can be used to combat Alzheimers disease. Two of these are Aricept and Namenda. Although these medications may not improve a persons long-term Alzheimers disease prognosis, they can improve the amount of time the person is able to stay reasonably mentally acute.

Aricept Aricept is one type of a cholinesterase inhibitor that is used in the treatment of Alzheimers disease. It is also the most common. This type of drug is used to stop the breakdown of cetylcholine. This is a chemical in the brain that is used for mental functions and plays a role in memory functions. Although this drug does not cure Alzheimers, it may help to improve mental acuity and function in some patients. This medication is used in all levels of Alzheimers disease including mild, moderate, and severe.

Namenda Namenda is a drug that works differently than other Alzheimer medications. It works to regulate a chemical called glutamate in the brain. This chemical regulates what other chemicals and minerals are allowed to enter brain cells. In a person with Alzheimers disease, their brains produce too much glutamate. By regulating this chemical, a person may have increased ability to process information and regulate memories.

Alzheimers Statistics

The first step is to realize that your family member may vary from day to day and even hour to hour in what they are able to accomplish.

The Alzheimers Association has a goal of wiping out this disease through research. No longer included as part of traditional nursing homes, Alzheimers nursing homes may also be able to offer specific treatments to help the diseases symptoms. For instance, someone with Alzheimers will not completed their normal daily activities.

Then over time the symptoms begin to get worse, and people may begin not to recognize family members and friends or have trouble speaking or writing.
Doctors and nurses trained to address the needs of Alzheimers patients make up the staff at Alzheimers nursing homes and are better trained to meet their needs. Alzheimers disease is a phenomenon thats not known to its fullest. She had rapid memory loss, confusion, disorientation and was suspicious of her own family and staff members at the hospital. In the initial stages of Alzheimers the cells that are being destroyed involve functions surrounding memory, organization and even communication. With a loved one in Alzheimers nursing homes some family members are concerned about the patients quality of life as well as their feeling of dignity. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests can help when testing for Alzheimers disease by using radio waves to show images from a patients body.

These scans can be helpful when testing for Alzheimers disease because they may show atrophy (shrinking) of the brain (a common Alzheimers indicator) or possibly other causes for Alzheimers-like symptoms.
This phase can be very difficult to manage, and is often when family members will place the patient into a full-time care facility. Earliest symptoms of the disease are present when Alzheimers brains fail to recognize signals for memory and planning, and typically expands to the loss of speaking and understanding speech, followed by the inability of the brain to recognize where the body is in relation to other objects. Researchers are working to find ways to stop this disease. The contents of the letter show the courage and determination of the former President in meeting the challenges posed to him from this dreadful disease and not wanting to keep the Alzheimers Ronald Reagan condition private was a bold move on his part in that by going public it would raise consciousness about Alzheimers disease and promote better understanding of the condition.