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by: KayBrown
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In only a very short space of time, Alzheimer's disease has become a major player in diseases affecting the elderly; currently the most prevalent type of age related dementia affecting the elderly today. Alzheimer's is estimated to affect 1 in 10 people over the age of 65 causing problems with the memory centers of the mind, causing people to forget short and longterm memories.

The problem in the past has been the accuracy of diagnosis which has gradually improved and is now up to 94 percent accurate. Alois Alzheimer a German physician first discovered the disease back in 1906 but it has only really been in the world's focus for just over 30 years; even though it has been scientifically studied for many years, knowledge surrounding this disease is minimal.

Studies show that your greatest risk of acquiring Alzheimer's is advancing age. Unfortunately, the person experiencing the early symptoms of Alzheimer's will know something is wrong but won't admit it to others or even to themselves; to make matters worse, this situation creates a delay in the person and family learning what is wrong. Given this it there is often a delay in understanding or taking an appropriate course of action.

General measures for treatment of Alzheimer's disease are the same as for all dementias. Stalling the progression and possibly improving the condition is about the best that can currently be achieved with drugs but no definitive treatment has yet been discovered. At the moment, three drugs are used routinely to treat sufferers of Alzheimer's, all of which have been approved by the FDA - Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine; improvements have shown to help the average sufferer's cognitive abilities by up to six months.

Another drug, Memantine, a relative of the older anti-influenza drug Amantadine, is proving successful at slowing down the mental decline of sufferers; it is now usually prescribed to Alzheimer's patients who are already using Donepezil. Memantine is the first medicine to show such positive results with sufferers with few problems associated with its use; because four fifths of it is passed out in urine unchanged by the kidneys, patients do not risk having their bodies retaining it in large quantities.

Alzheimer's disease is considered to be a major public health challenge because the average age of the industrialized world's population is increasing. this disease has risen to the status of fourth most lethal killer in America. The economic cost of treating and providing care for those with this type of aging disease another issue to be addressed; with an annual cost of 40 billion US dollars. This number is expected to rise in future years.

Looking after patients for care and treatment, is set to be a major problem. Last year alone, the National Institute on Aging spent nearly one-half of its funding on research related to this insidious disease; currently there are over 300 different compounds at various stages of development for its treatment.

One of the few factors that you can change to alter your risk of developing dementia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Some researchers into the disease have found that patients who are happy and healthy with Alzheimer's, slow down the rate of their mental decline. Fortunately this disease is still mainly affecting people over the age of 60; incidents of younger victims contracting the condition do occur, although these are rare.

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