More than half of the older population nowadays have what's known as the Alzheimer's disease. It is a steady degeneration of the brain tissues and the brain stem. Many people may confuse the symptoms of the Alzheimer's disease with other diseases such as severe depression and severe minor strokes; however, progression of the disease is really slow which takes years to be diagnosed as Alzheimer's. There are four stages that categorize the progression of the disease: Early Alzheimer's, Moderate Alzheimer's, Moderately Severe Alzheimer's and Severe Alzheimer's.

First, a patient may notice the symptoms as early as seven years prior to the onset of the disease. It may be recognized as mild age-associated memory impairment, and one may suffer from concentration difficulties. Most devastating part of the disease is that diagnose isn't made until the symptoms begin to markedly affect the patient's life.

Early Alzheimer's

First symptoms of the Alzheimer's will be classified as having early Alzheimer's. The patient will be unable to perform relatively complex tasks, both professional and personal tasks such as organizing personal finances or planning business strategies. Even though people with memory impairment do not necessarily show symptoms of Alzheimer's, all the people with Alzheimer's did show the symptoms of age-associated memory impairment. Also, the patient has difficulty laying new memories due to the damage in hippocampus and there is a decrease in emotional response also known as the "flattening effect." These symptoms may persist for approximately two years before the onset of moderate Alzheimer's. At this stage, the patient may be treated with therapy as well as new drugs that may help them repair the damage to their brain.

Moderate Alzheimer's

The second stage of the disease is diagnosed by the increase in the inability to remember significant and simple tasks to carry out one's life such as their address and the names of the family members. Also, there is a decrease in their cognitive skills such as counting the multiples of nine backward. Patients tend to lose their current memories and their long-term memories start to deteriorate. Short-term memory impairment is caused by the damage in hippocampus in their limbic system and the loss of long-term memory is due to the neuronal death in the neocortex and the shortage of neurotransmitters, especially acetylcholine. The symptoms of moderate Alzheimer's may last for 18 months to 24 months.

Moderately Severe Alzheimer's

The third stage of the Alzheimer's is easy to diagnose since the damage in hippocampus and amygdala in their limbic system become very obvious. The patient starts to live in a reality called "eternal present." Eternal present is when the patient cannot remember what has happened in the past, loss of long-term memory, and what is happening around him/her. At this stage the patient starts to forget the events that occurred even five minutes past and therefore cannot relate to what is happening around him/her. The patient is usually dependent at this stage on a caretaker or a family member. However, the patient will experience very frequent change in the emotional state. This occurs due to the damage in one's limbic system as well as the deterioration of neocortex. Also dysfunction of the communicator of the nervous system, neurotransmitters, and the communicator of the whole body, hormones all contribute to the patient's emotional state. Other symptoms of this stage are the deterioration of cognitive skills such as problem-solving skills as well as the decrease in vocabulary. Their vocabulary will deteriorate to approximately 30 to 40 words. The ability of neocortex to make logical association with related memories begin to vanish. The recent theory is that this is related to the damage in cerebellum. Approximately 13 years to 14 years would have passed since the minor age-associated memory impairment. This stage of Alzheimer's may last for approximately two to three years.

Severe Alzheimer's

The last stage of Alzheimer's is the most devastating stage to friends and family of the patient. The patient will experience several phases before dying due to other minor infections or cancers. First phase would be the decrease in their vocabulary. The number of words that one may remember to use would decrease to approximately 12 to 14 words. The hippocampus and amygdala in their limbic system is virtually nonfunctional and the neocortex is very close to utter deterioration. At second phase, cerebellum ceases to function, which would take approximately one to two years. Therefore, one loses the ability to walk, sit upright and eventually descends into vegetative state. The third stage, the neocortex ceases to function and their vocabulary is down to one or two words and they are usually "yes" and "no." Sadly and finally, the patient will lose the ability to control the facial expression and he/she will lose the ability to smile or hold up one's head. However, experiments have shown that the patient still has the ability to feel the pain, even at the vegetative state. Even though it is very rare that the patient will live long enough to experience the devastation of severe Alzheimer's, if the patient does survive, death usually occurs from pneumonia or other minor infections.

Symptoms
- progression of cognitive decline
- progression of memory loss; both current & long-term
- difficulty creating new memories
- notable decrease in vocabulary
- loss of coordination
- "flattening effect" of emotions
- hallucination & increase in delusional thinking
- paranoia
- obsession
- possibly vegetative state at later stage

Diagnosis
- lower activity of glucose consumption in the brain
- deterioration of hippocampus
- deterioration of amygdala
- deterioration of neocortex
- damage to cerebellum
- low level of neurotransmitters, especially acetylcholine
- other test findings

Signs and Tests
- CAT scan will detect the shrinkage of the brain as will as the presence of neurofibrillary tangles; however, it does not provide definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's
- MRI will provide a more detailed picture, even the burst of capillaries
- PET will monitor the rate of glucose consumption. Alzheimer's patients tend to have lower rate of glucose consumption due to severe neuronal damage.

Prevention
Possible prevention is to be less affected by the stress as well as keeping a healthier diet. Although Alzheimer's is not a preventable disease and it is not a genetic disorder (whether it is genetic or not has not yet been fully proven; however, it is suspected that it is not a genetic disorder). Therefore, there is no known way to prevent this devastating disease other than to keep a healthier life style such as healthier diet and regular exercise.

Treatment
There is no known way to treat this disease, as the disease is not diagnosed until the symptoms of Alzheimer's are fully in effect. However, if it is detected at an earlier state, one can take drugs that will compensate for the lower level of acetylcholine as well as other neurotransmitters. At later stage, there is not much help that is available since as one ages, other complications begin to appear. Also, most people who are affected by the disease are at older age group and therefore, not many live through until the severe Alzheimer's. By that age, one's immune system has already begun to deteriorate and it is very hard to treat Alzheimer's.

Final Note
Alzheimer's is a very devastating disease and approximately 50% cognitive decline is due to Alzheimer's, there are therapies that are available to prevent or to prolong one's state of mind before the onset of the disease.

More Information
For more information on Alzheimer's, visit Alzheimer's Association on-line at www.alz.org or American Health Assistance Fountation on-line at www.ahaf.org