ANNOUNCER: Nearly five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, a degenerative disorder of the brain that affects memory, thought processes and speech.
GARY SMALL, MD: Alzheimer's disease is an illness that literally robs people of their minds. It attacks the brain. It does it very slowly, insidiously, and it results in loss of memory, judgment, huge behavior changes.
ANNOUNCER: The cause of Alzheimer’s has not been confirmed, but there is a leading theory among researchers and clinicians.
P. MURALI DORAISWAMY, MD: One of the leading theories is that there is a buildup of a protein plaque in the brain that jams communications between nerve cells. The plaque is not like the plaque in your tooth or the plaque in your heart. It's a unique plaque made of a different kind of a protein. And we believe that when this plaque accumulates, that's what results in Alzheimer's, along with some other kinds of changes in the brain.
ANNOUNCER: There are a variety of risk factors associated with it.
P. MURALI DORAISWAMY, MD: I would say the primary risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is age. In addition, people with a family history of Alzheimer's disease are at two to three times higher risk for Alzheimer's, than say someone who does not have a family history.
And surprisingly, we're learning that many of the factors that increase your risk for heart disease, such as diabetes, high cholesterol level, hypertension, obesity, these are also surprisingly turning out to be risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.
ANNOUNCER: In early stages, symptoms of Alzheimer’s can seem like normal aging.
GARY SMALL, MD: Early on, it's very common for people to experience short-term memory loss. They experience difficulties retrieving information. It takes longer to learn new things and the symptoms, early on, can look very much like normal aging.
ANNOUNCER: A diagnosis is usually confirmed through a careful assessment by a qualified clinician.
GARY SMALL, MD: If somebody has a memory problem, they see the doctor, the doctor will get a good history, find out the nature of the symptoms. They'll look at medications, which can cause memory loss. They'll check the blood to see if there's a thyroid problem or anemia. They will do a good physical examination, because physical illnesses can contribute to brain health and memory loss.
ANNOUNCER: Early awareness and an early diagnosis are crucial for patients.
P. MURALI DORAISWAMY, MD: Early diagnosis is really very critical. One estimate is that every year or two years that Alzheimer's goes untreated, you're losing approximately 5 percent of your brain tissue.
ANNOUNCER: The earlier the diagnosis, the more time patients and caregivers have to plan for the future.
P. MURALI DORAISWAMY, MD: You want to make sure that you have your legal documents, you have your insurance documents and your financial documents in order. You also want to establish a structure around the house so that the person becomes familiar and comfortable with a certain daily routine. You want to have a stimulating environment because the brain requires stimulation.
ANNOUNCER: And medications have been proven to slow progression of the disease in many patients.
P. MURALI DORAISWAMY, MD: One class of drugs that's available to treat Alzheimer's is called the cholinesterase inhibitors. Aricept is the only drug that's approved for mild, moderate and severe stages of Alzheimer's. Exelon and Razadyne are approved for mild and moderate.
GARY SMALL, MD: We have a newer drug that now is available that affects another brain messenger symptom and that's called memantine or Namenda. And that also is a symptomatic treatment and we've found that we can use both types of medicines together and at least one study found that it was more of a benefit when you combine the medicines than when you use one alone.
ANNOUNCER: Medications can be effective for treating symptoms, but currently there is no cure for Alzheimer’s.
P. MURALI DORAISWAMY, MD: These are called symptomatic drugs. They are not a cure for the disease. They will not halt the disease. What they do is they buy the family extra time. They stabilize the symptoms. In some patients, they can actually improve symptoms, and in other patients, they can actually slow the course of the disease.
ANNOUNCER: Ultimately, patients will not respond to treatment. But an early diagnosis can improve the quality of life for both patients and caregivers as the disease progresses.
P. MURALI DORAISWAMY, MD: The ultimate goal of treating Alzheimer's with the currently available treatments is to offer some stabilization, to increase the level of functioning, to improve the quality of life of both the patient and the caregiver.
Because really it’s a progressively degenerative disease, and without treatment they’re going to lose their activities of daily living. And so really our goal of treatment is to try to maximize functioning and to improve the quality of life.
©2007 Healthology, Inc.