Alzheimer's disease: The memory thief 🧠😥

One afternoon, I was editing a video for my Healthy Lanka YouTube channel. The purpose of this channel is to provide health education to the public by explaining health issues and curiosities related to the health sector that they encounter in their daily lives. So I think it has started to reach the public successfully by now. Okay, so let's get down to business.

I finished this work and closed the lid of the laptop. At that moment, my brother's friend, Gayan, who was wandering around, started talking to me. So while we were talking like that, I could see that he was trying to say something. "So, Gayan, tell me, what is on your mind?"

“Oh, doctor, I’m a little worried about my mother.” He raised his voice. “She forgot what she said. She has no idea where she is? Where she’s going? She doesn’t even know what day it is. Let’s just put up with this for a bit. She spits everywhere. It’s very dirty. The other thing is that she hides money and things in places and can’t find them. So my wife and son are very unhappy because of these problems. She used to be a good strong woman. Our mother handled all our family business. But I can’t imagine why this happened all of a sudden, doctor. This has been a mental torture for me.” He continued in one breath.

This description may be unfamiliar to Gayan, but as a doctor, it is very familiar to me. So this is a disease. It is called Alzheimer's Disease . So this is not a normal condition that occurs due to aging . Okay. Let's talk about this Alzheimer's disease now.

What is Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is a disease that affects 60%-80% of dementia patients, as we all know. So, this condition can worsen with age. It is usually seen in people over the age of 65. This disease damages our brain cells. So, the unusual behavior that Gayan's mother showed comes from these cells being damaged.

Alzheimer's symptoms

So, you can understand that the symptoms of this disease that Gayan's mother had have disrupted the daily activities of the entire family. In the same way, this thing also affects people's hygiene very badly. Just think, if one person in the house is dirty, that behavior affects the health of the entire family. Let's now take a look at what these symptoms are? How are these patients identified.

1. Things that were done very well in the past are now difficult to do.
   • Making tea
   • Financial management
2. Difficulty solving problems: Now, don't call people who can't solve a math problem with Alzheimer's disease. This means that these people have difficulty finding solutions to problems that arise in everyday life.
3. Difficulty in processing language means that these Alzheimer's patients have a tendency to get their words mixed up. That means that the beginning, middle, and end of what they say don't match. We don't understand what they say. We can see things like that.
4. Personality Weaknesses These people's personality weaknesses become visible. That means they get angry quickly. And you can see things like avoiding activities that family members do together and staying alone. This Alzheimer's disease confuses people. It reduces their ability to judge/make decisions. So because of this, these people lose the ability to live alone. That means they become dependent on someone.

How do we diagnose Alzheimer's disease?

Actually, as a doctor, with their experience and knowledge, it is very easy to identify Alzheimer's disease. But the disease needs to be confirmed. Therefore, several different tests have to be done to confirm whether there are other brain disorders or not. Like MRI . This can check for brain cancer or stroke, and if there are none, it can be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. But did you know? There is still no way to definitively confirm this disease until a person dies.

Why does Alzheimer's develop? What are the risk factors?

“So Doc, why does our mother have this disease called Alzheimer’s?” This is the question that Gyan asked me after that. Let’s actually look at why this disease called Alzheimer’s develops in humans and what causes it. So, medical science is not yet able to say the exact reason for this. But they have discovered the risk factors for developing something like this.

• The first is age , which is over sixty-five years old. People of that age have a high risk of developing this disease.
• Family history: Similarly, if there is a family history of people who have developed this disease, that is, if someone in the family has previously developed this disease (like their parents), this genetic history will affect this.
• There is a gene called APOE. It is believed that this gene may be involved in this disease. But this has not been confirmed.
• Lifestyle: It has been found that people with lifestyle factors such as cardiovascular disease, smoking , and depression are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

More information

If you want to learn more, read this article released by the National Institute of Aging . ➡️ [Link to article : Alzheimer's and dementia ]

Is there a cure for Alzheimer's?

So after this story, Gyan asks me, “Doctor, what do we do for my mother? Can this be cured? Can't it be cured? How do I treat my mother?” I was asked a thousand questions without saying this. To be honest, the answer I was able to give was not very satisfying. Because so far, no specific, permanent treatment has been found for Alzheimer's disease. But here's the thing: after this disease is diagnosed, there are medications that can be used to slow down the progression of the disease, that is, to keep it under control. These are medications like donepezil and rivastigmine. These medications are usually used for people with a normal level of this disease. In more severe cases of the disease, we use a drug called memantine. So a new drug has been discovered called Aducanumab . This is what it does. It is a type of protein called amyloid that can be deposited in our brain. When these are deposited in the brain, Alzheimer's disease can increase. So this drug can act on these amyloids and control Alzheimer's disease.

Supportive Care

In fact, it is not enough to just give medicine to Alzheimer's disease. We need to help him. We call that Supportive Care. Now Gayan's mother can go to a speech therapist. There, they can develop their communication skills. Then, if she goes to a physical therapist, she can get the support she needs for her daily life activities. Things like that can stop her from falling into conditions like Anxiety and Depression.

Stages of Alzheimer's disease

Okay, we can distinguish between several stages of Alzheimer's disease. Gayan's mother, whom we just talked to, is currently in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease. That means she has a little difficulty making decisions, a little forgetfulness, and a few simple symptoms like suddenly not being able to figure out where she is or where she is going. If the disease progresses further, she may have difficulty eating, getting dressed, and other things, which can be dangerous. If this disease progresses further, by the very last stages, they will not be able to recognize their loved ones or speak. Then they will become a person who is 100% dependent on outside people.

How do you balance the two sides?

Now let's see how to manage a family with a person with Alzheimer's disease. This is also the problem that Gayan has. Because his mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Gayan's wife and children are suffering mentally and physically because of a patient. Taking care of a patient is not an easy task. As a suggestion, we can advise the mother to provide separate care. To an institution or other care facility. Being in close contact with this Alzheimer's patient is a great mental stress. If this can be avoided for a short time, it is really a great relief. Otherwise, the mental health of the rest of the family can be damaged because of this patient. So, to provide relief to these Alzheimer's patients, that is, there are people to take care of them, separate institutions. You can talk to your doctor about this and come to a good solution. With good counseling, you can save both the patient and the healthy person.

H.M.T.G.U.

After this conversation, Gayan was about to leave for home. He told me, “I need to go home now. I still don’t know what happened.” I reminded Gayan again that Alzheimer’s is a somewhat complicated, progressive disease. He usually sees Alzheimer’s as a disease that people don’t want to accept. That means no one likes their mother.