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Regarded as the most common form of dementia among older people, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects a person’s brain, causing a decline in thought, language, and memory. The development of AD occurs gradually, slowly disrupting a person’s day-to-day functioning. Severe AD cases can take its toll on how patients relate with others, their speech, and on anxiety and aggressiveness, among others. If someone in your family is experiencing AD but you and your family members do not have the capacity to fully fend for his or her needs, there are many housing and care options that you can consider.

Nursing Facility

A number of nursing facilities focus on Alzheimer’s care, providing services that cater to the needs of the patient. Nursing facilities are residential care establishments usually meant for patients with severe AD, with staff especially trained to provide nursing care and address the various deficiencies attached to having AD.

Therapy is a big part of the routine in these facilities.

Adult Day Care

Also known as adult day services, an adult day care center is a non-residential facility that offers programs for AD patients. Such centers provide meals, recreational activities, social events and interaction, and outings and trips, all of which are designed to boost AD patients holistically. Adult day care centers also have in-house nurses to address patient needs.

Assisted Living Residence

An assisted living residence or facility provides a stay-in experience for AD patients, complete with designated units or wings.

Such facilities address the unique individual needs of each patient with experienced personnel who specialize in handling concerns on Alzheimer’s. The staff in an assisted living facility supervises and assists the patients’ daily activities, coordinates the services given by outside health care providers, and monitors resident activities. Alzheimer’s care in Yardley assisted living residences give importance to safety, health, and well-being.

Respite Care

This facility provides temporary care for patients who are really nursed at home but whose family members are not capable of providing care for a short period of time. AD and dementia care in Yardley respite care facilities create a sound and secure environment for patients. These have experienced personnel as well; they are trained in nursing and assisting them with their activities.

Hospice

A hospice offers programs that aim to provide comfort and care to patients in extremely severe AD stages. Hospice care focuses on addressing the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual aspects of dying patients of AD, making the most out of the last stages of the lives of these patients. Alzheimer’s care in Yardley hospices also helps the families of the patients in coping and undergoing the process of letting go.

What is dementia?

Dementia is a syndrome characterized by:

impairment in memory,
impairment in another area of thinking such as the ability to organize thoughts and reason, the ability to use language, or the ability to see accurately the visual world (not because of eye disease), and
these impairments are severe enough to cause a decline in the patient’s usual level of functioning.

Although some kinds of memory loss are normal parts of aging, the changes due to aging are not severe enough to interfere with the level of function. Many different diseases can causedementia, but Alzheimer’s disease is by far the most common cause for dementia in the United States and in most countries in the world.

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a slowly progressive disease of the brain characterized by memory impairment and, finally, by alterations in thinking, planning, language and perception. Many scientists believe that the results of Alzheimer’s disease from increased production or accumulation of a specific protein (beta-amyloid protein) in the brain that leads to nerve cell death.
The likelihood of having Alzheimer’s disease increases substantially after the age of 70 years and may affect about 50% of people older than 85 years. However, Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging and is not something that inevitably happens in later life. For example, many people live over 100 years old and never develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease Causes

Scientists do not fully understand what causes AD, but it is clear that develops due to a complex series of events that occur in the brain over a long period of time. It is likely that the causes may be genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Because people differ in their genetic makeup and lifestyle, the importance of these factors to prevent or delay the year varies from person to person.
Genetics play a role in some people with AD. A rare type of AD, called early-onset AD, affects people 30 to 60. Some cases of early-onset AD, called familial AD, are inherited. Familial AD is caused by mutations (changes permanent) in three genes. Descendants of the same generation have a 50-50 chance of developing familial AD if one parent who had.

Alzheimer’s disease Symptoms

Loss of abstract thinking – Someone with Alzheimer’s disease may lose the ability to draw conclusions and solve problems. It can be difficult to balance a checkbook, for example, because the patient has forgotten what to do with numbers.
Disorientation – People with Alzheimer’s disease may get lost in the street where they live, forget where they are and how they got there, and do not know how to get home.
Lack of initiative – A person with the disease can be passive or unmotivated, sitting in front of the TV for hours, sleeping more than usual and did not perform their usual activities.
Language problems – People with Alzheimer’s disease often forget simple words or substitute inappropriate words with. An Alzheimer’s patient who can not find your toothbrush can ask for “that thing for my mouth.”

Alzheimer’s disease for Treatment

Four of these medications are called cholinesterase inhibitors. These drugs are prescribed for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. They can help delay or prevent the symptoms worse for a limited time and may help control some behavioral symptoms. The medications are: Reminyl ® (galantamine), Exelon ® (rivastigmine), Aricept ® (donepezil) and Cognex ® (tacrine). Scientists do not fully understand how cholinesterase inhibitors work to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but current research indicates that prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine, a brain chemical considered important for memory and thought. Alzheimer’s disease progresses, the brain produces less and less acetylcholine, therefore, cholinesterase inhibitors may lose its effect.

Tooth loss before the age of 35 has been indentified as a factor in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Although the relationship is clear, the reason why people with early tooth loss are more prone to Alzheimer’s disease is not completely understood.

Research shows that people who have more complex jobs, exercise more, and engage in more leisure activities have lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease AND lower incidence of tooth loss due to gum disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease that is the most common cause of dementia. Onset can occur when a person is in his or her 50’s; it gradually gets worse over time. It eventually leads to incapacitating problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. Memory impairment, as well as problems with language, decision-making ability, judgment, and personality, are the most notable features of the disease.

Gum disease is essentially a bacterial infection of the gums almost always caused by inadequate oral hygiene. It results in inflammation of the bone and gums around teeth and eventually, without adequate treatment leads to tooth loss. Gum disease is the most common cause of tooth loss in adults. The suspected connection between Alzheimer’s disease and tooth loss is inflammation of gums caused by bacteria. In other words, early tooth loss doesn’t lead to Alzheimer’s disease, the gum disease that causes tooth loss is probably the culprit. So, although the exact relationship between Alzheimer’s and tooth loss is not known at this time, we do know that a healthy lifestyle along with healthy gums and teeth are important in prevention of dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease.

By: Cynthia Ichiriu Keller, DDS

Kaneohe Family Dental Care, Inc. was established in 1984 by the husband and wife team of Bruce Keller, D.D.S. and Cynthia Ichiriu Keller, D.D.S. Both Bruce and Cynthia are graduates of the Creighton University School of Dentistry, and are members of the Honolulu County Dental Society, Hawaii Dental Association, and the American Dental Association. Both doctors have received professional awards including multiple listings on Honolulu Magazine’s list of Top Dentists in Hawaii and America’s Guide to Top Dentists.

IntroductionScientific research has delivered knowledge about what happens with the brain cells when someone develops Alzheimers Disease. But they still don’t know what causes the disease. There are some thoughts about inheritance.

Until now the most sure is, older people are more likely to get it. With increasing age, the chances increase. More and more people are getting older than 85 and at that age the risk is higher that at 65.

Neurotransmitters And Brain Cell ShrinkageNeurotransmitters are the chemical messengers in the brain. In the brain of a person with Alzheimer disease the amounts of neurotransmitters are decreased.

Besides that they develop deposits of protein and fiber that prevent the cells from working properly. When this happens, the cells can’t send the right signals to other parts of the brain.Over time, brain cells affected by Alzheimer disease also begin to shrink and die.

Age Changes or Alzheimer’s?As we get older all parts of our body start to function a bit less. This also applies to our brain cells. Getting older almost everybody notices there are moments having problems remembering a name or an appointment or whatever.

However possible signs of Alzheimer’s Disease are serious memory loss, even if someone else reminds us at something still not being able to recall it.My father sometimes held his hands against his head and complained about not feeling right in his mind. As if he had cotton wool in his head. He also showed a change in behavior and became increasingly suspicious.

One of the main aspects of dementia and maybe especially Alzheimer’s disease is an increasing number of brain cells get worse and ultimately die. As time goes by the disease affects many parts of the brain. This results in a decreasing ability to carry out earlier very normal activities. Eventually they get also problems with walking and talking.

Plaques And TanglesCarrying out his research on the brain of the deceased Auguste D (his first patient he noticed with these special symptoms), Alois Alzheimer found two abnormal structures. He suspected them to be responsible for the damaging and killing of nerve cells in the brain.

Scientists later called these structures plaques and tangles.

Plaques: build up between nerve cells. They contain deposits of a protein fragment called beta-amyloid.Tangles: form inside dying cells. People with Alzheimer’s tend to develop far more than normally found in the brain of older people… The plaques and tangles tend to form in a predictable pattern, beginning in areas important in learning and memory and then spreading to other regions.

What Do Plaques And Tangles Do?Scientists are not absolutely sure what role play in Alzheimer’s disease. Most experts believe somehow plaques and tangles block the communication among nerve cells.

In autopsy and looking at brain tissue of Alzheimer patients under the microscope:

They found many fewer nerve cells and synapses than in a normal and healthy brain.Plaques build up between nerve cells as abnormal clusters of protein fragments.Tangles are found in dead and dying nerve cells.

At this moment scientists still are not absolutely sure about the causes of cell death and tissue loss in the Alzheimer brain. However they are sure plaques and tangles play an important role.

Alzheimer’s disease is a serious disorder that causes the cells of the brain to deteriorate. As the disease progresses, it affects the memory and mental abilities causing loss of skills both socially and intellectually. Although there is no specific diagnostic test available to confirm a diagnosis of this disease, neurologists can use various tests to provide them with enough information to make an accurate diagnosis ninety percent of the time. These include neurological examinations, physical examinations, lab tests, mental status testing, neuropsychological testing and brain imaging results.

Early Stage Symptoms

During the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the individual may begin to notice problems with forgetfulness and episodes of slight confusion. As it progresses, more evident symptoms may occur such as loss of judgment, inability to solve problems, speaking and writing difficulties as well as memory loss. Thoughts may also become disorganized without the individual realizing that their thinking skills have become impaired, although it may be evident to close family members.

Basic Tests

When an individual suspects that they or a loved one may have Alzheimer’s disease, their primary care physician will refer them to one of several Suffolk neurologists who specialize in this disease. The neurologist will perform an examination to check the patient’s balance, coordination, reflexes, senses and muscle strength. They will also order blood tests to rule out any other disorders that could produce the same symptoms. Neurologists may test the patient’s thinking abilities and memory by asking specific questions such as what the date is and where they are. They may also ask them to write a complete sentence, remember a list of words or follow the doctor’s commands that involve three-steps.

Advanced Testing

If the neurologists suspects that the patient may have early stage Alzheimer’s, they may require a more thorough assessment of their memory and thinking skills. These types of tests can take several hours, as enough detailed information must be collected so it can be compared with individuals of the same age and education. Neuropsychological testing can be helpful in determining patterns that are associated with dementia disorders.

Diagnostic Imaging Tests

Imaging tests such as CT scans, MRI and PET scans may be used to view any abnormities within the brain that could also produce the effects of early stage Alzheimer’s disease. These imaging devices are primarily used to rule out another possible cause of symptoms. There are however, certain new imaging devices that are being used in major hospitals today that may help neurologists visually identify changes in the brain that are caused by Alzheimer’s disease.