Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's disease was first described in 1907 by the physician Alois Alzheimer. The most commonly known symptom of Alzheimer's disease is confusion. This behaviour in particular causes us to become 'estranged' from others and to be unpredictable in our interactions. Confusion can also occur 'acutly' i.e. suddenly and limited in time - for example triggered by a hospital stay, directly after heart surgery etc. It is difficult to understand this estrangement and it cannot be explained away - on the other hand everybody also experiences similar situations from time to time: we forget, misplace, can not remember names, cannot find our car in the car park and similar lapses. So both aspects are present: dementia is not familiar but also not entirely alien to us.

People with Alzheimer suffer mainly from impaired memory and orientation, limitations of concentration, planning and judgement, personality changes and later also perceptual, speech and walking disorders; in the final stage, various other body functions such as swallowing and the excretion process are also affected. During the course of Alzheimer's disease, patients lose their independence in managing everyday life. There are effects on perception and social relationships; people become more and more dependent on care.

The slowly progressing destruction of nerve cells in the brain leads to the previously mentioned symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. It is a natural phenomenon to loose a certain number of nerve cells during ageing but this loss occurs much more rapidly in people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. As a result the brain of the patient does not function normally any longer.

In rare cases, the disease is caused by genetic changes (mutations) in the family. In these cases symptoms usually occur before the age of 60 and progress rapidly. All currently known mutations result in an overproduction of a protein which destroys the nerve cells. In most cases the exact cause remains largely unexplained; interaction of several factors probably leads to the onset. Everybody is at risk of developing this disease. Several genetic factors are known to increase the risk, without themselves being the cause. These include a (normal) variant of the gene apolipoprotein E which encourages the deposition of the harmful protein.

The probability of developing Alzheimer's disease increases with advancing age. The probability is higher for women and for people having a lower standard of education.

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