According to the Alzheimer's Association, more than 5.3 million people in the United States suffer from Alzheimer's disease. This form of dementia progressively and irreversibly destroys brain cells over a long period of time. It is a fatal disease with no known cure. Alzheimer's is associated with loss of memory and intellectual ability, as well as deteriorated functioning abilities needed for activities of daily living. Symptoms of the disease can vary from mild to severe and fall into four major categories of effects.
Amnesia
Amnesia, or loss of memory, progressively increases throughout stages of the disease. The National Institute on Aging states that memory problems are one of the first recognized symptoms. Short-term memory is affected first, so an individual may remember his childhood but not what he ate for breakfast. Over time, he will stop recognizing friends, family or even themselves. Also, he may get lost not remembering the way home or forget to turn the stove off.
Agnosia
Another effect of Alzheimer's is an inability to recognize or identify objects through the senses, called agnosia. According to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, unrecognized symptoms of agnosia are common and present by individuals not being able to recognize internal information such as feeling pain or understanding the urgency to go to the bathroom.
Aphasia
Alzheimer's affects the communication center of the brain and causes aphasia, a language disturbance in understanding and expressing spoken words. Aphasia can be expressive or receptive. Expressive indicates difficulty communicating to other people because an individual loses the ability to write, speak and remember words. Receptive aphasia prevents an individual from understanding anything another person says. You can be talking about something simple but it may sound like a jumble to her.
Apraxia
Alzheimer's sufferers experience apraxia, which is an inability to perform motor activities. He can forget how to brush his teeth or have difficulty putting his clothes on. Every motor activity learned throughout the lifetime is forgotten. The Alzheimer's Foundation of America also states that in severe stages of the disease, the ability to chew, walk and swallow disappear.
Effects on Behavior
Individuals with Alzheimer's disease exhibit personality changes and become increasingly irritable or isolated. Depression can strike at any stage and cause complete indifference and withdrawal from society. She may also experience delusional hallucinations causing emotional disturbance and fear.
