Alzheimer's Disease - History, Cause and Economic Impact

Alzheimer is one of the most frequent cause of dementia. It was initially documented in 1906 by a German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer, who observed the pathological hallmarks of the condition - irregular mass of protein (i.e., beta-amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of protein fibers (i.e., neurofibrillary tangles) - in the brain of a female patient who had experienced memory loss, troubles, and unpredictable behavior. An critical breakthrough was the invention of the photomicrograph in the early 1900s by Solomon Carter Fuller, an African American psychiatrist; this important innovation offered a technique for taking photos via the lens of a microscope allowing visualization of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.

Since its first description, Alzheimer's condition has gone from a seldom described disorder to one of the most frequent disabling diseases among older adults. The growing proportion of older adults in the U.S. population reinforces the urgent need for prevention and treatment of all chronic diseases including Alzheimer's disease. In most people, cognitive health and functionality remain stable over the lifetime, with only a gradual decline in short-term memory and processing speed. For other people, however, the decline in cognitive function progresses to a much more serious state of cognitive impairment or into different forms of dementia. Mild cognitive impairment is characterized by difficulties with memory, language, or other essential cognitive capabilities that happen to be serious enough being noticed by others and are reflected on cognitive tests, but are not severe enough to interfere with every day life. Dementia is characterized by progressive global deterioration of cognitive abilities in multiple domains which include memory and at least one additional area - learning, orientation, language, comprehension, and judgment -severe enough to interfere with daily life.

The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is difficult and usually imprecise, but its significance is without question. Depending on the diagnostic and pathologic criteria employed, Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60-80% of all dementia cases. As many as five million Americans may currently have the disease, and the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment is even higher. Furthermore, the number of individuals affected by Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive disorder is anticipated to rise considerably with the aging of the baby boomer generation. Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the fifth leading cause of death in Americans age sixty five years and older. Alzheimer's disease along with other dementias cost greater than $148 billion in the United States annually, and these disorders also exact a substantial toll on patients and caregivers in terms of financial costs, and stress.

So far, numerous studies have attempted to describe the etiology and elements associated with the risk for development and progression of mild cognitive disorder and Alzheimer's disease, generating an abundance of theories on potential risk factors and therapies. Age is the strongest known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease; most people with the late-onset type of the condition receive the diagnosis after age 60. An earlier-onset familial type also occurs, but it is unusual. Genetic, cardiovascular, and lifestyle elements also are implicated.

This article is contributed by Britannia Acupuncture Clinic, emphasizing the importance of alternative health solution