Understanding Types of Alzheimer's

When one thinks of Alzheimer's they instantly think of the disease of the elderly where one starts to forget. What many fail to understand is that Alzheimer's is often a fatal brain disease; Alzheimer's is a disease that destroys brain cells that causes severe memory loss. Alzheimer often causes major changes that affect one's lifestyle to the point of needing professional intervention, for example around the clock nursing care provided at a nursing home facility.

Early-onset Alzheimer's: Is the infrequent form of dementia (loss of brain function that comes from certain types of disease) that affects people under the age of 65. Early-onset has been known to develop in people between the ages of 30 to 40, but still this is considered uncommon. It is more common to see a person with early-onset in their 50's. Early-onset Alzheimer's usually exhibit the same types of symptoms as late-onset Alzheimer's such as confusion, forgetfulness, difficulty in completely minor tasks, personality changes along with problems communicating.

Late-onset Dementia: Is the known as the most common form of Alzheimer's that occurs after the age of 65. It is still not known if Alzheimer's disease is linked with-in families. Late-onset dementia is also known as Alzheimer's and sporadic Alzheimer's disease. The symptoms to late-onset dementia are the same as listed above under early-onset Alzheimer's.

Familial Alzheimer's disease also known as FAD: This type of Alzheimer's is known to be entirely inherited. When two generations have are documented to have Alzheimer's FAD is often the diagnosis. While extremely rare Familial Alzheimer's disease has a much earlier onset, often seen around the age of 40 to 50.

There is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease since this disease progression is still unknown. Although they have found that symptoms can be minimized with certain medication. These medications are Tacrine: which is not commonly used due to its potential to damage the liver and lack of positive memory results. Donepezil is used during the onset of Alzheimer's disease for patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment. Newer medications such as Aricept, Reminyl and Exelon carry fewer side effects and are showing positive results for improvement in memory.

While Alzheimer's disease cannot be prevented due to its unknown causes there has been positive research showing that when ones maintains their cardiovascular health through regular exercise, weight reduction, when one controls their blood pressure and cholesterol it has been proven to reduce the effects of Alzheimer's.

Sources: Alzheimer Association http://www.alz.org

Mayo Clinic http://www.mayoclinic.com