Is Alzheimer's Deadly?
The truth of that matter is that Alzheimer's disease, in and of itself, will not kill you. Instead, people afflicted with Alzheimer's will often linger, assisted by modern medicine. But there are a couple of factors that work against those with Alzheimer's. One, Alzheimer's generally strikes older people (over 65). Two, the weakened state caused by an Alzheimer's patient's inability to take care of herself leads to other complications, infections and diseases that lead to death.
Alzheimer's Kills Brain Cells
Neurons represent the primary structure of your brain, or brain cells. Alzheimer's disease attacks, interferes with and destroys the neurons that have to do with how your brain communicates. The two most widely seen ways in which Alzheimer's disease attacks the brain are through plaques and tangles. Both of these proteins are naturally occurring in the brain, but are altered in someone with the disease. Plaques disrupt the ability of the neurons to communicate in the brain. Tangles, otherwise known as tau, undergo an alteration that causes them to twist, becoming useless for brain function.
Pneumonia
While Alzheimer's is most profound in how it attacks and kills the brain cells, it has other ways of killing those it infects. Because most Alzheimer's victims are older, it's not uncommon to have some problems when it comes to eating. Trouble swallowing can cause those afflicted with the disease to aspirate or inhale their food into their airway, which is a common cause of pneumonia. Once pneumonia has set in, the patient's age and relative weakness more often than not will not allow her to fight it off.
Infection
Incontinence is nothing new to the elderly. But mixed with Alzheimer's it makes for a deadly double-whammy. Those under supervised care who exhibit symptoms of urinary incontinence are often fitted with a catheter. The insertion of a catheter raises the odds of getting a urinary tract infection, which may lead to more serious infections down the road.
