Alzheimer's Disease

Introduction: Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects the mental abilities including memory, language, and cognition. Progressively it leads to dementia and death. AD usually arises in late middle age or the elderly but there is a rare familial subtype that occurs earlier. Because AD is so well-known, other causes of dementia or memory loss may be overlooked. Other possible diagnoses include normal aging (if very mild symptoms), emotional problems, fatigue, depression, and certain medical conditions such as thyroid disease, brain tumors, multi-infarct disease, or Huntington's disease. In its early stages, a correct diagnosis of AD can also be overlooked itself and misdiagnosed as other conditions such as depression, dementia, simple forgetfulness, or senility.

Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease

• Early symptoms
  • Forgetfulness
  • Loss of concentration
  • Forgetting names
• Progressing symptoms

See full list of 34 symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Alzheimer's Disease:

• Home Andropause Tests
• Prostate Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Prostate Tests
  • Home PSA Antigen Tests
  • Home Testosterone Tests

Medical Textbooks Online about Alzheimer's Disease

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Alzheimer's Disease

• Urine tests
• Blood tests
• Neuropsychological tests
• Memory tests
• Cognitive tests

See full list of 9 diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's Disease

Wrongly Diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease?

• Misdiagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease
• Failure to diagnose Alzheimer's Disease
• Underlying causes of Alzheimer's Disease (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Failure to diagnose Alzheimer's Disease

Misdiagnosis and Alzheimer's Disease

Underactive thryoid may be misdiagnosed as depression: Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, is an endocrine gland disorder that is more common in women. It can mimic many diseases,...read more »

Alzheimer's disease over-diagnosed: The well-known disease of Alzheimer's disease is often over-diagnosed. Patients tend to assume that any memory loss or forgetulness symptom might be Alzheimer...read more »

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions, such as a stroke or Alzheimer's disease,...read more »

Tremor need not be Parkinson's disease: There is the tendency to believe that any tremor symptom, or shakiness, means Parkinson's disease. The...read more »

Rare diseases misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease: A rare genetic disorder is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease for men in their 50's. The disease Fragile X disorder can show only mild symptoms in the early years, and...read more »

Brain pressure condition often misdiagnosed as dementia: A condition that results from an excessive pressure of CSF within the brain is often misdiagnosed. It may be...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Alzheimer's Disease

Causes of Alzheimer's Disease

Read more about causes of Alzheimer's Disease.

More information about causes of Alzheimer's Disease:

• Medications, drugs, or substances causing Alzheimer's Disease (16 listings)
• Alzheimer's Disease as a complication caused by other conditions
• Alzheimer's Disease as a symptom
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Alzheimer's Disease

Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease

• Mental stimulation
• Tacrine (THA, Cognex)
• Aricept (donepezil) - reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
• Exelon (rivastigmine) - reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
• Supportive care

See full list of 6 treatments for Alzheimer's Disease

Videos for Alzheimer's Disease

Patient Surveys for Alzheimer's Disease

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Alzheimer's Disease
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Prognosis for Alzheimer's Disease

Prognosis for Alzheimer's Disease: Poor. Progressive deterioration from 5-20 years.

More about prognosis of Alzheimer's Disease

Reseach about Alzheimer's Disease

Visit our research pages for current research about Alzheimer's Disease treatments.

Clinical Trials for Alzheimer's Disease

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Alzheimer's Disease include:

• Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Study - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• A Comparison of Two Standard Therapies in the Management of Dementia With Agitation - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - risperidone,quetiapine,olanzapine,divalproex
• Evaluation of Age- and Alzheimer's Disease-Related Memory Disorder - This study is no longer recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Brain Imaging in Alzheimer's Disease - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - [123] 5-I-A-85380
• Brain Study of Patients With Frontal Lobe Dementia and Parkinsonian Disorders - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - 18 FDG

See full list of 254 Clinical Trials for Alzheimer's Disease

Statistics for Alzheimer's Disease

• Medical statistics for Alzheimer's Disease
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Alzheimer's Disease
• Death and Mortality statistics for Alzheimer's Disease
• Society statistics for Alzheimer's Disease

Types of Alzheimer's Disease

• Familial Alzheimer's disease - an early-onset inherited genetic form.

Read more about Types of Alzheimer's Disease

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Alzheimer's Disease, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Alzheimer's Disease

NINDS Alzheimer's Disease Information Page: NINDS (Excerpt)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease characterized by memory loss, language deterioration, impaired visuospatial skills, poor judgment, indifferent attitude, but preserved motor function. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Alzheimer's Disease Information Page: NINDS)

Alzheimer's Disease: NWHIC (Excerpt)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in older people. A dementia is a medical condition that disrupts the way the brain works. AD affects the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. Every day, scientists learn more about AD, but right now the cause or causes of the disease are still unknown, and there is no known cure. An estimated 4 million people in the U.S. suffer from AD. (Source: excerpt from Alzheimer's Disease: NWHIC)

Clinical Trials Alzheimer''s Disease and Related Disorders: NIMH (Excerpt)

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD) is an age-related and irreversible brain disorder that occurs gradually and results in memory loss, behavior and personality changes, and a decline in thinking abilities. These losses are related to the breakdown of the connections between nerve cells in the brain and the eventual death of many of these cells. (Source: excerpt from Clinical Trials Alzheimer''s Disease and Related Disorders: NIMH)

Definitions of Alzheimer's Disease:

A degenerative disease of the BRAIN characterized by the insidious onset of DEMENTIA. Impairment of MEMORY, judgment, attention span, and problem solving skills are followed by severe APRAXIAS and a global loss of cognitive abilities. The condition primarily occurs after age 60, and is marked pathologically by severe cortical atrophy and the triad of SENILE PLAQUES; NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES; and NEUROPIL THREADS. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, pp1049-57) - (Source - Diseases Database)

A progressive form of presenile dementia that is similar to senile dementia except that it usually starts in the 40s or 50s; first symptoms are impaired memory which is followed by impaired thought and speech and finally complete helplessness - (Source - WordNet 2.1)