Alzheimer's.  It's a word that immediately summons fear in our minds, a negative word that makes us fear for OUR minds, and the minds of our loved ones.  In itself, it's just an innocent name, the last name of the man who discovered that the most common form of dementia was actually a devastating disease.  In 1906, German neurologist and psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer had no idea how scary his name would become as he attached it to this horrible disorder.  Once considered a psychological phenomenon, Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is now understood to be a degenerative disorder that is characterized by a specific set of physiological changes in the brain.  It is considered to be incurable and symptoms get worse as the disease progresses; there are no known survivors of Alzheimer's.

November is National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month...and not so coincidentally, November is also National Family Caregivers Month.  Caregivers certainly help their loved ones with all kinds of mental and physical healthcare needs, showing the love with nearly 15 million Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers in the United States alone.  Because AD tends to affect the people who have it so detrimentally, they must rely on family or outside support and care.

AD is the most common form of dementia, which is defined as a decline in intellectual function.  Currently, 5.4 million Americans are living with AD and it is the 6th leading cause of death in America. Unfortunately, this rate keeps increasing.  Between 2000 and 2008, deaths from AD increased 66% while deaths from the top 10 causes of death, including heart disease at number one, decreased.  AD also has the awful distinction of being the only cause of death among the top ten in the USA without a proven way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression.  1 in 8 Americans aged 65 or over has AD and nearly half of the people aged 85 or over have this disease.  Another American develops AD every 69 seconds.  If prevention and cures are not found, by 2050 it is estimated that an American will develop the disease every 33 seconds, and that globally, 1 in 85 people will be affected.

AD is characterized by progressive mental deterioration to such a degree that it interferes with one's ability to function socially and at work.  Memory and abstract thought processes are impaired.  Irreversible and progressive, deterioration in critical areas of the brain may precede symptoms by as much as forty years!  As the disease progresses, there is severe memory loss, particularly in short-term memory.  Disorientation, dysphasia (the inability to find the right word), mood swings, severe confusion and even hallucinations and delusions can all start to occur in the AD patient.  Some people with AD become very angry and violent, while others may be docile and passive; and a few can exhibit both behaviors, changing from anger to passiveness suddenly and unpredictably.

Many of us tend to worry that we have this disease and think that our own forgetfulness is a sure sign of AD.  Most of us have had our "senior moments" when we have forgotten where we put our car keys or eyeglasses, but this is NOT an indicator of AD.  A good example of the difference between forgetfulness and AD or dementia is that if you do not remember where you put your glasses, that is forgetfulness.  If you do not remember that you wear glasses, this may be a sign of dementia or AD.

The precise cause or causes of AD is still unknown, but research continues to reveal some interesting clues.  In AD, nerve fibers surrounding the hippocampus (the brain's memory center) become literally tangled, and information is no longer carried properly to or from the brain.  New memories cannot be formed, and memories formed earlier cannot be retrieved.  Plaques accumulate in the brain with this disease as well.  Composed largely of a protein-containing substance called beta-amyloid, scientists believe these plaques accumulate in and damage nerve cells.  Some researchers are looking at immune system malfunction as a possible culprit in the formulation of AD.  Powerful immune system proteins called complement proteins have been found around the plaques and tangles in the brains of people who have died from AD.  Some experts theorize that complement proteins normally help clear away dead cells, but in AD they begin to attack healthy cells as well.  Cell degeneration results in accumulations of amyloid, and many of these researchers believe that beta-amyloid is a key player in this memory destroying disease.

Other theories about what may cause AD to develop include nutritional deficiencies, malabsorption problems, food allergies and other inflammatory conditions, lack of exercise, arteriosclerosis, head injuries, overuse of prescription and OTC drugs, smoking, lower educational levels and hereditary factors. At least four gene variations are linked to AD and all of them increase the production of beta-amyloid as well.  If you have a direct family member that has been diagnosed with AD, your chances are slightly higher for developing this disease.  While the majority of folks with AD are aged 65 or older, early-onset AD can occur as early as 30 or 40 years of age.  Many of the same risk factors that increase your chances of developing heart disease can also increase your chances of developing AD; high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.  Women also develop this disease more often than men, currently 2/3rds of all Alzheimer's patients are women.

While new research has not been able to prove that higher levels of aluminum or mercury in the body may be one of the causes of AD, there are many individuals who swear that toxic levels of these metals in their own bodies, or in those of loved ones either caused the disease in part, or made it much worse.  Studies have shown that high blood levels of homocysteine, a toxic amino acid, doubles the risk of developing AD. Homocysteine tends to be higher in people who consume a lot of animal protein.  On the other hand, leafy green vegetables and fruits are high in B-complex vitamins that tend to reduce homocysteine levels in the body.