Alzheimer Disease, (Updated) A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Alzheimer Disease, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases
Never let the brain idle.
'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.
George Carlin

The 4 A’s to Alzheimer’s
The four A's are four words that define some of the main symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
Amnesia
Amnesia refers to memory loss and is often the most easily visible and frequent sign of Alzheimer's disease.
Memory loss in Alzheimer's disease typically begins with short-term memory and progresses to a decline in long-term memory.
Aphasia
Aphasia is a term used to describe impaired communication.
Aphasia may be classified as
1. Expressive aphasia, where someone is unable to find the right words or may say them incorrectly, or
2. Receptive aphasia, where the ability to understand, receive and interpret language is impaired.
Aphasia is frequently thought of as the impairment of speech and language, but it also can be the ability to read and write.
Alzheimer's disease affects both expressive and receptive aphasia.
Apraxia
Apraxia is a deficit in voluntary motor skills. While Alzheimer's is known primarily for affecting cognitive functioning, it also affects the body's physical ability to function.
As Alzheimer's progresses, the ability to perform certain activities of daily living such as bathing and getting dressed might decline.
Activities such as walking and eating become more difficult in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Agnosia
Agnosia is the impairment of the ability to receive or correctly appreciate information from the senses of hearing, smell, taste, touch, and vision.
People with Alzheimer's disease often are less able to identify smells or recognize the feeling of a full bladder.
They also might not be able to recognize loved ones as the disease progresses.
Difficulty recognizing or interpreting visual shapes is frequently present in Alzheimer's disease.
Agnosia may also be auditory, where the sense of hearing is intact but the ability to interpret what the sound means is impaired.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most frequent known type of dementia.
It influences memory, thinking, and behavior.
Alzheimer's disease is closely related to aging and the length of the average life.
It is featured by progressive loss of memory and cognitive functions.
2 abnormal structures called plaques and tangles are prime suspects in damaging and killing the nerve cells.
Amyloid Plaques build up between nerve cells.
Neurofibrillary Tangles form inside dying cells
Most doctors believe they somehow block communication among nerve cells and disrupt activities that cells need to survive.
There is no single test that can specifically diagnose Alzheimer's disease
The 3 stages of Alzhemer's:
Stage1 Forgetfulness
Stage2 Confusion
Stage3 Severe Alzheimer's
There is no cure for Alzheimer disease.
The goals of treatment are:
1.Slow the progression of the disease
2.Manage symptoms, such as behavior problems, confusion, and sleep problems
3.Change the home environment to make daily activities easier
Medicines are used to treat symptoms
Psychological support and Physiotherapy are integral parts of treatment
Dementia research
Researchers have discovered an enzyme and a biochemical pathway they believe may lead to the identification of drugs that could inhibit the production of beta-amyloid protein
A new study suggests that vital exhaustion, which can be perceived as an indicator of psychological distress, is a risk factor for future risk of dementia
Seniors who consume more than 2 standard portions of mushrooms weekly may have 50% reduced odds of having mild cognitive impairment

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Alzheimer Disease
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Ch

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: May 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463434451

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Alzheimer Disease,

(Updated)

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2019 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Alzheimer Disease, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Alzheimer Disease)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Alzheimer's disease

Never let the brain idle.

'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'

And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

George Carlin

The 4 A’s to Alzheimer’s

The four A's are four words that define some of the main symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Amnesia

Amnesia refers to memory loss and is often the most easily visible and frequent sign of Alzheimer's disease.

Memory loss in Alzheimer's disease typically begins with short-term memory and progresses to a decline in long-term memory.

There are different types of amnesia, including:

1. Retrograde amnesia is memory loss that is limited to the period before a head injury occurred or before a disease such as Alzheimer's developed.

Retrograde amnesia hinders the ability to retrieve the memories that were already stored in the brain.

2. Anterograde amnesia is memory loss that is present for events that happen or information that is presented after a brain injury or a disease develops.

The ability to make new memories is impaired in anterograde amnesia.

Aphasia

Aphasia is a term used to describe impaired communication.

Aphasia may be classified as

1. Expressive aphasia, where someone is unable to find the right words or may say them incorrectly, or

2. Receptive aphasia, where the ability to understand, receive and interpret language is impaired.

Aphasia is frequently thought of as the impairment of speech and language, but it also can be the ability to read and write.

Alzheimer's disease affects both expressive and receptive aphasia.

In the early stages of Alzheimer's, there might be some mild difficulty with finding the right word.

As Alzheimer's goes into the later stages, speech may become senseless and impossible to understand, and it may be difficult to determine how much of what the person says is being understood.

The non-verbal communication, an important aspect of interacting with each other when cognition is intact, becomes that much more important when interacting with someone with dementia.

This can involve basic tactics such as remembering to smile to reassure the patient that the caregiver is there to help him or her, and more advanced non-verbal approaches such as showing a task caregiver want to have him or her complete, instead of just verbally telling him or her.

Apraxia

Apraxia is a deficit in voluntary motor skills. While Alzheimer's is known primarily for affecting cognitive functioning, it also affects the body's physical ability to function.

As Alzheimer's progresses, the ability to perform certain activities of daily living such as bathing and getting dressed might decline.

Activities such as walking and eating become harder in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Due to these changes, people living with Alzheimer's also are at a high risk of falling, and when they do fall, they are at a higher risk of fracturing their hip.

Staying as active as possible, for as long as possible, may help delay some of the physical changes in apraxia that occur in Alzheimer's.

Agnosia

Agnosia is the impairment of the ability to receive or correctly appreciate information from the senses of hearing, smell, taste, touch, and vision.

People with Alzheimer's disease often are less able to identify smells or recognize the feeling of a full bladder.

They also might not be able to recognize loved ones as the disease progresses.

Difficulty recognizing or interpreting visual shapes is frequently present in Alzheimer's disease.

Agnosia may also be auditory, where the sense of hearing is intact but the ability to interpret what the sound means is impaired.

The presence of agnosia is often part of a cognitive assessment.

1 task on the mini mental state exam (MMSE) requires the test-taker to copy an intersecting pentagon figure.

Difficulty in this task reduces the total points the person achieves on this test and can be a sign of cognitive impairment.

What is Alzheimer's disease?

Dementia is a drop in brain function that happens with certain diseases.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most frequent known type of dementia.

It influences memory, thinking, and behavior.

Alzheimer's disease is closely related to aging and the lengthening of the average life.

It is featured by progressive loss of memory and cognitive functions.

It happens together with other behavioral disorders.

Dementia is a syndrome (a group of related symptoms) linked with a continuing decline of brain functioning.

It can involve memory, thinking skills and other mental abilities.

Who is affected in Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is most frequent in people over the age of 65.

The risk of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia rises with age, involving an evaluated 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 and 1 in every 6 people over the age of 80.

But around 1 in every 20 cases of Alzheimer's disease involves people aged 40 to 65.

This is called early- or young-onset Alzheimer's disease.

The patient is more likely to form Alzheimer disease if the patient:

1. Is older -- Developing Alzheimer disease is not a part of normal aging.

2. Has a close relative, such as a brother, sister, or parent with Alzheimer disease.

3. Has certain genes linked to Alzheimer disease.

These factors may also increase the risk:

1. Being female

2. Having heart and blood vessel problems due to high cholesterol

3. History of head trauma

What are the causes of Alzheimer's disease?

Causes

The precise cause of Alzheimer disease is not known.

The cause is not known but there are several different factors which may help its development.

Everyone can get Alzheimer's disease

More women are affected than men.

Recent studies show that there is the degeneration of gene loci 14 in the chromosomes of cells.

1. Aging is one important risk factor.

The illness mostly involves people over the age of 65.

2. A family history of Alzheimer's disease is another risk factor.

Other causes of Dementia are:

1. Overdose drugs

2. Depression

3. Metabolic disorders

4. Anemia

5. Viral and bacterial infections

6. Brain tumors and bleeding

7. Alcohol

8. Starvation and vitamin deficiency

Pathology of Alzheimer's disease:

Brain - plagues and neurofibrillary tangles are present in more in Alzheimer's disease than elderly.

The hippocampus of the brain is the area of functioning of the memory

Research indicates that certain alterations in the brain lead to Alzheimer disease.

2 abnormal structures called plaques and tangles are prime