So, What Exactly Is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease, in short, is memory loss and ultimate dysfunction of the brain.

That is just a short description. It's not everything there is to know about Alzheimer’s disease. By understanding the main elementals of what Alzheimer’s is, you’ll be able to understand the medical aspect of the disease more easily.

Here’s the nitty gritty. Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that not only inhibits the person’s ability to remember things but the disease is also progressive in distorting the thought processes. It affects a person's ability to make decisions or even know where you are at times. In short, the person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease will experience slow deterioration of the mind. Hallucinations and delusions are not uncommon when the disease has progressed a ways.

With millions of people around the world suffering from this disease, there has to be a cure, right?

What Can be Done?

Unfortunately, although so many people do suffer from Alzheimer’s, there is currently no cure. Scientists are working hard on a solution but the breakthrough has yet to be found. However this doesn’t mean that there aren’t things you can do to help someone you know or love when it comes to alleviating some of the pain from the disease.

Understanding Alzheimer’s is the first step. In the beginning stages of the disease, the most important thing you can do is learn all you can about it. Learn about signs and symptoms, what to expect from the person suffering from the disease and learn to know that the disease doesn’t get better, it only gets worse. If you can recognize this fact and accept it, dealing with Alzheimer’s is all that much easier.

In later parts of the disease, you can keep daily diaries for your loved one and read it to them daily. Even if they’re at the point where they don’t remember much, reading them details of their life and the people in it works wonders for them and you. It’s a great form of therapy and a great place to start when dealing with Alzheimer’s disease.

I like to flip through the pages of magazines with my mother. We talk about the pictures in it and what different colors remind us of. I do most of the talking because it's hard for her to express herself. If there are recipes, I ask her questions about if her mother made something like that. She really likes to remember things her mother did so long ago.