Alzheimer's.

The risk of Alzheimer's increases as we grow older.

The elderly have a greater risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease.

The elderly have a greater risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease always begins slowly and grows in intensity with increasing age, especially above the age of 80. Often, the initial lapses in memory, and problems with orientation and speech, or not taken so seriously or are glossed over. When the symptoms occur more often, those affected initially attempt – often because they are afraid or ashamed – to conceal their inadequacies from their family or employer for as long as possible. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, we often find, on looking back, that the initial signs had appeared months or even years before. The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can certainly be a shock to the family – but the family can adjust and organise therapy for their loved one.

Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia.

In 1906, this "extraordinary disease of the cerebral cortex" was introduced for the very first time at a neurology congress in Tübingen by Frankfurt psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer. His later Munich superior coined the term Alzheimer's disease, a name which has since become commonplace in medical circles. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. This generic term for the loss of mental abilities refers to the loss of memory in addition to other functions such as thinking, orientation, learning, speech and the ability to make decisions on varied, individual levels. It is presumed that in Germany there are more than one million sufferers of dementia, and worldwide the figure is estimated at 25 million. Every year, just over 200,000 people fall prey to the condition, with women affected more often due to their higher life expectancy. Around two thirds of these sufferers contract Alzheimer's.

Protein deposits in the brain damage the brain cells.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative condition. It entails disruptions to the memory, orientation and the ability to think and make judgements. Such shortcomings continually worsen, which is why a follow-up examination should be held after at least six months. After the death of a deranged female patient, the neurologist Alois Alzheimer discovered that some areas of her brain contained clumped deposits of particular proteins. These pathological changes in the brain cause a variety of brain disorders: protein plaques hinder the conduction and processing of information between the nerve cells (neurons), thus damaging and destroying viable cells.

Professional care

Müller

Dr.

Friedemann Müller


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