There has been some good and bad news regarding Alzheimer's disease in the recent scientific literature.  The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is probably as frightening as cancer and I know that Seabrookers as well as all Americans have seen loved ones and friends even a former President (Ronald Reagan) struck with this disease.  Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disease that erodes the ability to remember, think and ultimately function.  When it strikes the entire family suffers as the individual we have all know slowly slips away unable to remember us and unable to function as a normal person.  The average person who develops Alzheimer's can expect to live 8 to 10 years from the time of the diagnosis, so it is a lethal as well as debilitating disease.

Causes
The precise cause of Alzheimer's disease is not known.  What is known is that there is at least one gene (apoE) and possibly others that when present predispose patients to the disease.  This in part explains the fact that Alzheimer's tends to "run in families" that is there are some forms of the disease that appear to be transmitted from one generation to another.  Probably there are other factors such as viruses, diet and environment as well as inflammatory response to these factors that contribute to the onset of the disease.  One thing that is known is that the single most important risk factor is AGE, and this is why we are concerned with Alzheimer's in this column on Health Aging.  The longer we live the more likely our chance of developing Alzheimer's.  The incidence is thought to double about every 5 years after the age of 65.  The disease is diagnosed by a physician using a variety of tests, but the 7 warning signs that a patient or family should look for prior to making the diagnosis are listed in the table.  Simple forgetfulness, like we all have as we age is not a symptom of Alzheimer's - that is a part of normal aging.
   
What is the incidence of Alzheimers?
One of the recent scientific articles has addressed the incidence.  This fits in the bad news category.  In an August paper published in the Archives of Neurology by Morrison-Bogorad, the number of patients in the U.S. who have Alzheimer's now is 4.5 million and that number is expected to increase to 13 million by 2050.  The age effect is prominent with17% considered sever in the 65-74 age group rising to 20% in the 75-84 group and 28% in the over 85 age group.  The older one is with Alzheimer's the more severe it is, and with the clear expectation that our population will continue to age (in part because we are making progress combating cancer and heart disease) we can expect to see more and more severe Alzheimer's.  
   
New Therapy
The bleak forecast above has been countered somewhat by the FDA's decision in October to release a new drug for use against Alzheimer's in this country.  The drug is Memantine and manufactured by the German pharmaceutical company, Merz. This drug has proven effective in reducing the cognitive impairment of patients with Alzheimer's, and although it does not cure or prevent the disease it is quite effective in combating the symptoms.  This is very exciting news since the other drugs in use have not been as effective as this new one.  Patients or family members of patients with Alzheimer's should see their physicians about the possibility of now being treated with this promising drug.   It is very encouraging to see that drugs are being developed based on the understanding of how the brain works and we can expect to see even more drugs developed that will reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's - that's the good news.