Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s Disease

The last time you visited your elderly mother, she seemed confused and disoriented. She kept asking the same question over and over again and couldn’t remember that you’d already given her an answer a dozen times. She laughed uproariously over something you said that wasn’t meant to be funny and spend a good deal of your visit staring into space with a blank expression in her eyes. When you got ready to leave she became quite upset because she couldn’t find her purse and accused you of hiding it. None of the behaviors is typical for her, and you can’t help wondering; could this be Alzheimers disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer; a German doctor. In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died or an unusual mental illness. He found abnormal clumps (now called amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of fibers (now called neurofibrillary tangles). Today, these plaques and tangles in the brain are considered signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have also found other brain changes in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Nerve cells die in areas of the brain that re vital to memory and other