June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, an annual observance to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, as well as recognize it as a major public health issue.
In addition to raising awareness, this observance has several other purposes. The most important one is to encourage research in finding ways to prevent or cure Alzheimer’s disease. Another important purpose is to teach people how they can better care for themselves, as well as their loved ones who are living with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.
Worldwide, there are an estimated 47 million people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and without a change, these numbers are expected to grow to 76 million by 2030. It is a fatal disease that kills nerve cells and tissue in the brain, affecting an individual’s ability to remember, think, and plan. Ultimately, those with the disease will lose their ability to communicate, recognize family and friends, and care for themselves.
The occurrence of dementia goes way back to before it was named. Ancient Egyptians, in 2000 B.C., were aware of the fact that memory declines as people grow old.
In the second century A.D., Turkish doctor Aretheus described dementia by putting it in the same group as delirium. Delirium is a reversible (acute) disorder of cognitive function while dementia is an irreversible chronic disorder.
The fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century led to the domination of theocracy during the Middle Ages. Dementia was thus regarded as a punishment from God for sins committed and the patients were considered to be possessed by demons and subject to hatred. During the 14th and 15th centuries, such patients were also victims of witch hunts.
Saint Isidore, archbishop of Seville, first used the word ‘dementia’ in his book “Etymologies” in around 600 A.D. The word is of Latin origin: ‘de’ meaning loss or deprivation, ‘ment’ meaning mind, and ‘ia’ indicating a state. So, ‘dementia’ means ‘loss of the state of the mind.’
In 1906, German physician Alois Alzheimer described the case of Auguste Deter, a 50-year-old woman with profound memory loss. This was the first recorded case of Alzheimer’s disease, although it was not called so then.
President Ronald Regan initiated the observance of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month in 1983 to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and get people involved in the recognition of the disease as well as the types of care required by someone suffering from it.
Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases.
The greatest known risk factor is increasing age, and the majority of people with Alzheimer's are 65 and older. Alzheimer’s disease is considered to be younger-onset Alzheimer’s if it affects a person under 65. Younger-onset can also be referred to as early-onset Alzheimer’s. People with younger-onset Alzheimer’s can be in the early, middle or late stage of the disease.
Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. On average, a person with Alzheimer's lives 4 to 8 years after diagnosis but can live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors.
Alzheimer’s has no cure, but one treatment — aducanumab (Aduhelm™) — is the first therapy to demonstrate that removing amyloid, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, from the brain is reasonably likely to reduce the cognitive and functional decline in people living with early Alzheimer’s. Other treatments can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve the quality of life for those with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. Today, there is a worldwide effort underway to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset and prevent it from developing.
The most common early symptom of Alzheimer's is difficulty remembering newly learned information.
Just like the rest of our bodies, our brains change as we age. Most of us eventually notice some slowed thinking and occasional problems with remembering certain things. However, serious memory loss, confusion, and other major changes in the way our minds work may be a sign that brain cells are failing.
Alzheimer's changes typically begin in the part of the brain that affects learning. As Alzheimer's advances through the brain it leads to increasingly severe symptoms, including disorientation, mood, and behavior changes; deepening confusion about events, time, and place; unfounded suspicions about family, friends, and professional caregivers; more serious memory loss and behavior changes; and difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking.
In mild Alzheimer’s disease, a person may seem to be healthy but has more and more trouble making sense of the world around him or her. The realization that something is wrong often comes gradually to the person and his or her family. Problems can include:
In this stage, more intensive supervision and care become necessary, which can be difficult for many spouses and families. Symptoms may include:
People with severe Alzheimer’s cannot communicate and are completely dependent on others for their care. Near the end, the person may be in bed most or all of the time as the body shuts down. Their symptoms often include:
A common cause of death for people with Alzheimer’s disease is aspiration pneumonia. This type of pneumonia develops when a person cannot swallow properly and takes food or liquids into the lungs instead of air.
There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, though there are medicines that can treat the symptoms of the disease.
The number of Americans living with Alzheimer's is growing — and growing fast. More than 6 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer's.
As the number of older Americans grows rapidly, so too will the number of new and existing cases of Alzheimer's. By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s may grow to a projected 12.7 million, barring the development of medical breakthroughs to prevent, slow, or cure Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s is not just memory loss. Alzheimer’s kills.
People age 65 and older survive an average of four to eight years after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, yet some live as long as 20 years with Alzheimer’s. This reflects the slow, uncertain progression of the disease.
The costs of health care and long-term care for individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are substantial, and dementia is one of the costliest conditions in society.
In 2022, Alzheimer's and other dementias will cost the nation $321 billion, including $206 billion in Medicare and Medicaid payments combined. Unless a treatment to slow, stop or prevent the disease is developed, in 2050, Alzheimer's is projected to cost nearly $1 trillion (in 2022 dollars). This dramatic rise includes three-fold increases both in government spending under Medicare and Medicaid and in out-of-pocket spending.
It’s never too late or too early to incorporate healthy habits. Growing evidence indicates that people can reduce their risk of cognitive decline by adopting key lifestyle habits. When possible, combine these habits from the Alzheimer’s Association to achieve maximum benefit for your brain and body.
There are many ways that you can observe Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month and help spread awareness about this terrible disease. Here are just some examples:
Sources:
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-are-signs-alzheimers-disease
https://www.alz.org/media/sewi/documents/go_purple_in_june_combined_toolkit_(1).pdf
https://nationaltoday.com/alzheimers-brain-awareness-month/