The Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease, considered one of the most common types of dementia, affecting 5.4 million of the total inhabitants of the planet. It is estimated that half of all dementia cases are Alzheimer's. It mostly affects people over 65 years of age, especially the female sex. The first case analyzed was in the hands of Alois Alzheimer, in charge of finding the neuropathology of the disease, and Emil Kraepelin, whose mission was to find the symptoms and define the disease as such; it all started in 1901 and the patient of both psychiatrists was Auguste Deter.
The disease develops slowly, the first symptoms are confused with stress and the patients' old age. Some studies may reveal minor cognitive difficulties that can be very mild signs that the disease may be progressing. The most prominent symptom may be the obstacle of not being able to remember recently learned facts and not being able to acquire new information. However, there are some debates as to whether this is really the first stage of the disease or is simply an independent diagnosis.
The initial dementia (the first stage of the disease) is characterized by memory loss very pronounced, causing the person to become disoriented or not remember where it is, preventing them from relationships with family or friends. The vocabulary suffers reductions and the fluency of speech is lost. During moderate dementia, patients can perform certain activities such as going to the bathroom, but they will need a helper to perform more complex tasks such as paying bills; They can also present momentary outbursts of anger. The last phase, called advanced dementia, is distinguished by the fact that the patient has lost abilities to do the simplest tasks, due to the deterioration of the muscles, becoming totally dependent on his assistant.
For the diagnosis of the disease, the doctor must have an interview with the patient, analyzing whether the patient has the cognitive characteristics that Alzheimer's allows to notice; the minimental exam is one of the most effective, and consists of 30 questions, grouped into three sections; In them, concentration, memory capacity, orientation and language capacity can be evaluated in general terms.
There are 4 types of viable treatments, pharmacological, non-pharmacological, psychosocial intervention treatments that are in the research phase, such as vaccines, brain pacemakers, ultrasound and stem cells.
