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Alzheimer's disease
by Dr. Rajesh Shah Mother Nature has blessed mankind
amongst all the entities on the earth with an
extraordinary quality of logical and rational thinking.
The storehouse of immense knowledge, 'BRAIN' is the source
of this exceptional attribute. Unfortunately, the entire
system of an individual becomes handicapped as the same
brain starts deteriorating. The major culprit who is
involved in the deterioration of brain is Alzheimer's
disease (AD). Alzheimer's disease is a devastating disease
of brain that robs the afflicted individual of
intelligence, memory and eventually life.
As many as 2-4 % of all people of 65 years of age and
older have Alzheimer's. As many as 20 % (or more) of
population over 85 years age have the AD. Alzheimer's
disease (pronounced AHLZ-hi-merz) is one of several
disorders that cause the gradual loss of brain cells. The
disease was first described in 1906 by German physician
Dr. Alois Alzheimer. However, Alzheimer's disease did
exist long before the birth of Dr. Alzheimer. The research
has shown that Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of
dementia; in fact 70% of dementias are due to Alzheimer's
disease.
Dementia is an umbrella term for several symptoms related
to a decline in thinking skills and progressive
deterioration of brain performance. Common symptoms
include a gradual loss of memory, problems with reasoning
or judgment, disorientation, difficulty in learning, loss
of language skills, etc. People with dementia also
experience changes in their personalities and behavioral
problems. The cumulative effect of all these changes
becomes distressing both to the individual and their
families. It should be stressed that Alzheimer's disease
knows no social, economic, ethnic or geographical
boundaries; eventually those affected are unable to care
for themselves and need help with all aspects of daily
life. The magnitude of this disease is huge, there are
estimated to be 17-25 million people worldwide with
Alzheimer's disease.
What happens to brain in
Alzheimer' disease?
Alzheimer's disease is characterized by progressive death
of brain cells. This results from two abnormal structures
in the brain: Amyloid plaques (pronounced AM i loyd, which
are clumps of protein fragments that accumulate outside of
cells and Neurofibrillary tangles (pronounced NUR o FI bri
lair ee), which are clumps of altered proteins inside
cells.
Why these changes develop in the
brain?
Research about these structures has provided clues about
why nerve cells die, but scientists have not determined
exactly why these changes develop. In short, no one yet
knows exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease. Most
researchers agree that the cause may be a complex set of
factors. Though Alzheimer's disease affects individuals in
40s and 50s, studies have shown that the greatest known
risk for developing Alzheimer's is increasing age. As many
as 2-4 % of all people of 65 years of age and older have
Alzheimer's. As many as 20 % (or more) of population over
85 years age have the AD. A family history of the disease
is another known risk. Having a parent or sibling with the
disease increases an individual's chances of developing
Alzheimer's. Many mysterious diseases have provided
interesting clues through genetic studies. Scientists have
identified certain genes, which are very strongly related
to Alzheimer's.
Other factors:
Many diverse medical theories, including the biochemistry
of acetylcholine and neurotransmitters, inflammation,
oxidative stress and free radicals, and homocysteine,
nutritional and vitamin deficiencies, as probable causes
of Alzheimer's disease has been put forth. A wide array of
risk factors for Alzheimer's include, disorders of blood
circulation, hormonal imbalance, head trauma, emotional
stress, alcohol abuse, metabolic defects, nutritional
deficiencies, and even some infections.
How Alzheimer's presents:
Declining memory is the most common early symptom of
Alzheimer's. Some change in memory is normal as we grow
older, but the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are more
than simple lapses in memory. People with Alzheimer's
experience difficulties communicating, learning, thinking,
and reasoning - problems severe enough to have an impact
on an individual's work, social activities, and family
life.
While it's normal to forget appointments, names, or
telephone numbers, once in a while, those with Alzheimer's
will forget such things more often and not remember them
later. In addition, People with ordinary forgetfulness can
still remember other facts associated with the thing they
have forgotten. For example they may briefly forget their
next-door neighbor's name but they still know the person
they are talking to is their next-door neighbor. A person
with dementia will not only forget their neighbor's name
but also the context.
Individuals with AD begin to misplace everyday items, such
as the car keys or eyeglasses, and become disoriented and
get lost in familiar surroundings (such as when driving on
well-known streets). With Alzheimer individual find
difficult to perform even familiar tasks and may forget
the steps for preparing a meal, using a household
appliance, or in what order to put clothes on.
A person with Alzheimer's disease often forgets simple
words or substitutes unusual words, making his or her
speech or writing hard to understand. Individuals with
Alzheimer's often show poor judgment about money, and
mathematics.
People's personalities ordinarily change somewhat with
age. But a person with Alzheimer's disease can change a
lot, becoming extremely confused, suspicious, fearful, or
dependent on a family member. An Alzheimer's may become
unusually emotional and experience rapid mood swings for
no apparent reason. Alternatively a person with
Alzheimer's may show less emotion than was usual
previously. In addition, they may experience delusions
(believing in a reality that does not exist), and
hallucinations (seeing things that do not exist).
In the terminal phase, Alzheimer patient enters in a world
where he can recognize nothing
neither family members and
friends, nor himself.
How the disease progresses: Alzheimer's disease advances
at widely different rates. The duration of the illness may
often vary from 3 to 20 years. Eventually, the person with
Alzheimer's will need complete care. If the individual has
no other serious illness, the loss of brain function
itself may cause death.
How the condition is diagnosed:
Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is an important
step in getting appropriate treatment, care, and support
services. There is no one diagnostic test that can detect
if a person has Alzheimer's disease, but the process
involves several kinds of tests and may take more than one
day to complete the evaluation. Evaluations may include
the following steps:
§ A medical history, which collects information about
current mental or physical conditions, prescription and
nonprescription drug use, and family health history
§ A mental status evaluation to assess sense of time and
place; ability to remember, understand, and communicate;
and ability to do simple math problems
§ A physical examination, which includes the evaluation of
the person's nutritional status, blood pressure,
sensations, balance, and other functions of nervous system
§ Investigations like a brain scan like CT and MRI to
detect other causes of dementia such as stroke and
laboratory tests, such as blood and urine tests, for
checking various components of blood, hormones, enzymes,
infections, etc.
Treatment:
Although Alzheimer's disease has always puzzled physicians
of all walks, interestingly homoeopathy system offers
reasonably positive treatment if not cure.
When we discuss the role of medicine for certain diseases,
we probably do not talk of the 'cure' in real sense, but
more of 'control' and 'relief'. AD is one such condition,
where homoeopathy has following role to play:
§ To control the disease process whereby further
deterioration of the brain damage is helped to certain
extent
§ To improve to an extent some of the symptoms:
communication, failing memory, anxiety, restlessness, etc.
Many of the problems associated with dementia such as
restlessness, depression, and agitation can be treated
effectively and gently with homoeopathy. It may also be
possible, especially in the early stages of Alzheimer's
disease, to improve someone's memory with homoeopathic
medication. Timely administered homoeopathy medicines can
prevent further progress of disease.
Homoeopathy is over 207 years old medicine originated in
Germany. Homoeopathy is the revolutionary, natural medical
science and a system of medicine, which is gentle,
effective, and devoid of any side effects.
The homoeopathic remedies are prepared from natural
substances to precise standards and work by stimulating
the body's own healing power.
Homoeopathy is one such branch of therapeutics, which
believes in treating the patient who is diseased and not
merely diseased parts of the patients. This holistic
approach goes in a long way in the management of various
chronic and deep-seated diseases, including Alzheimer's.
It goes without saying that every person is unique and
dementia affects people differently - no two people will
follow exactly the same course. Hence, an approach to
dementia care, which recognizes the personal history,
character and individuality of the person with
Alzheimer's, has been shown to have a positive impact on
the progress of the disease.
And on the very same principle is based homeopathy.
Homoeopathy undertakes study of each Alzheimer's as
separate entity and does in-depth evaluation of the
disease as well as patient as person. It means, the
physician has to understand the patient and his/her
problems more deeply, with regards to its symptoms, its
diagnosis as well as its probable genetic background. The
study also involves deep evaluation of the mind and
emotions. After appreciating the patients in his totality,
a suitable medicine called as 'constitutional medicine'
is selected for the patient. The medication based on such
foundation brings deeper level healing process for the
sufferers of chronic diseases.
It should be noted that there is no single specific remedy
for all the cases of Alzheimer's. The exact treatment is
determined only on in-depth evaluation of individual case. |
