Alzheimers Affects Many But Few Treatments Are Offered - By: Carol Bell

Dementia is now a major problem amongst the older generation with Alzheimer's disease being the most common progressive degenerative disorder. Estimated at affecting one in ten people over the age of sixty-five Alzheimer's affects the memory centres of the mind.

When the topic of dementia is brought up, the discussion will invariably turn towards Alzheimer's disease; other forms of dementia are often forgotten. A diagnosis of the disorder has managed to reach an accuracy of up to ninety four percent.

This is a complex disease and is still not fully understood, although the world has only focused its attention on this disease for over 30 years. Studies into the disorder have shown you have a grater chance of acquiring Alzheimer's the older you become. Often, a person experiencing their first signs of Alzheimer's is unable or unwilling to admit it to themselves or anyone else.

Alzheimer's disease is currently treated exactly the same as other forms of dementia. Some drugs can now slow down and sometimes improve the symptoms but so far no treatment has been discovered that can cure the disorder. At the moment, three drugs are used routinely to treat sufferers all of which have been approved by the FDA, Donepezil, Tacrine, and Rivastigmine.

Memantine is a new drug that slows deterioration during the later stages and is a derivative of the decades old anti-influenza drug Amantadine. Fortunately, Memantine has few side effects as 80 percent of the drug is passed in urine unchanged and so far it is the only drug that has proved to be of real benefit to patients with moderate to severe symptoms.

Alzheimer's disease is considered to be a major public health challenge since the average age of the industrialized world's population is increasing. This disease is now the fourth largest cause of death in America.

The cost of providing care and treating patients is already costing forty billion dollars every year with this figure expected to increase. According to the National Institute on Aging, nearly half of its annual budget was spent on research into this awful disease last year alone.

One way to help lower the risk of dementia and one that you can have responsibility for is to change how you live by eating healthily and taking regular exercise. In fact researchers believe the happier and healthier someone is with Alzheimer's, the slower his or her decline. Luckily, early onset of the disease is very rare although it is starting to claim younger victims.

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