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submitted: Aug 27th 2008 | by: NelisaMaseko | Total views: 1 | Word Count: 466 | |

In only a very short space of time, Alzheimer's disease has become the number one form of dementia amongst older people. The current figures show that of people aged 65 and over, 10% of them are suffering from Alzheimer's disease which affects the memory centers of their brain but the ability to diagnose the problem has improved with an accuracy figure of between 87% and 94%.

The world started focusing on Alzheimer's disease only about thirty years ago and its effects are not even fully understood today, although it was first discovered in 1906 by Alois Alzheimer, a German physician. You have a grater chance of acquiring this disease the older you become; studies into the disorder have shown. Unfortunately, the person experiencing the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease will know something is wrong but won't admit it to others or even to themselves.

Dementia covers quite a broad spectrum of problems but they are all treated in a similar fashion, including Alzheimer's treatment. However, there is no definitive Alzheimer's treatment at present, but some drugs improve the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease or stall their progression. Most Alzheimer's disease sufferers will be prescribed on of the following drugs Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine that have been approved for use by the FDA and have shown that they can improve the cognitive abilities of the patient for up to six months.

However a new drug Memantine is proving to be effective in slowing down the mental deterioration seen in Alzheimer's disease patients in the later stages of the disease. Alzheimer's disease sufferers prescribed Donepezil with up to including severe symptoms are now prescribed Memantine as well. So far the side effects relating to Memantine given to sufferers of Alzheimer's have been low as 80% of the drug is passed out unchanged, through the system as urine.

Alzheimer's disease is considered to be a major public health challenge since the average age of the industrialized world's population is increasing and is now the fourth largest cause of death in America. The economic cost of treating and providing care and treatment for Alzheimer's disease is currently over billion a year. The National Institute on Aging, last year spent almost half of its annual budget on research into the causes and treatment of Alzheimer's. To show the global concern surrounding Alzheimer's disease, research is being carried out into over 300 compounds around the world, which may be effective in treating it.

To help reduce the chance of contracting Alzheimer's, it's important to adopt a healthy lifestyle and maintain it. Although not full proven yet, researchers studying Alzheimer's disease patients have noticed that those who stay healthy and cheerful have slowed the rate of decline. Currently, Alzheimer's disease is still a degenerative disorder affecting primarily the elderly but a few younger people have recently developed the condition.

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