How Do You Develop Alzheimer’s Disease

Life Expectancy By Stage Of The Disease

The average number of years a person lives with Alzheimers disease is about 10. Keep in mind, however, that theres a gap between when symptoms begin and when a diagnosis is actually sought. The first symptoms of Alzheimers diseaseforgetting names, misplacing items, difficulty concentrating at work or performing simple tasksarrive an average of almost three years before the diagnosis is made.

The scale most commonly used by health professionals for the stages of dementia is the Global Deterioration Scale , also called the Reisberg Scale. The table below shows a patients average life expectancy by the stage of dementia. These are averages based on studies of large numbers of Alzheimers patients.

Use And Costs Of Health Care And Long

Among Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, black/African Americans had the highest Medicare payments per person per year, while whites had the lowest payments . The largest difference in payments was for hospital care, with black/African Americans incurring 1.7 times as much in hospital care costs as whites .

• Created from unpublished data from the National 5% Sample Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries for 2014.

In a study of Medicaid beneficiaries with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s dementia that included both Medicaid and Medicare claims data, researchers found significant differences in the costs of care by race/ethnicity. These results demonstrated that black/African Americans had significantly higher costs of care than whites or Hispanics/Latinos, primarily due to more inpatient care and more comorbidities. These differences may be attributable to later-stage diagnosis, which may lead to higher levels of disability while receiving care delays in accessing timely primary care lack of care coordination duplication of services across providers or inequities in access to care. However, more research is needed to understand the reasons for this health care disparity.

Epigenetic Age Analysis Of Different Brain Regions

The is the youngest brain region in centenarians according to an epigenetic biomarker of tissue age known as : it is about 15 years younger than expected in a centenarian. By contrast, all brain regions and brain cells appear to have roughly the same epigenetic age in subjects who are younger than 80. These findings suggest that the cerebellum is protected from aging effects, which in turn could explain why the cerebellum exhibits fewer neuropathological hallmarks of age related dementias compared to other brain regions.

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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Alzheimers

Memory problems are often one of the first signs of Alzheimers. Symptoms vary from person to person, and may include problems with:

• Word-finding, or having more trouble coming up with words than other people the same age.
• Vision and spatial issues, like awareness of the space around them.
• Impaired reasoning or judgment, which can impact decisions.

Other symptoms may be changes in the persons behavior, including:

• Taking longer to complete normal daily tasks.
• Repeating questions.
• Trouble handling money and paying bills.
• Wandering and getting lost.
• Losing things or misplacing them in odd places.
• Mood and personality changes.
• Increased anxiety and/or aggression.

What Is Alzheimer’s Disease

Dementia is the name for a set of symptoms that includes memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language. Dementia develops when the brain is damaged by diseases, including Alzheimers disease.

Alzheimers disease is a physical disease that affects the brain. It is named after Alois Alzheimer, the doctor who first described it.

Press play to watch a four-minute video about Alzheimer’s disease:

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Differences Between Women And Men In The Prevalence And Risk Of Alzheimer’s And Other Dementias

More women than men have Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women., Of the 5.8 million people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s in the United States, 3.6 million are women and 2.2 million are men., Based on estimates from ADAMS, among people age 71 and older, 16% of women have Alzheimer’s or other dementias compared with 11% of men.

The prevailing reason that has been stated for the higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s and other dementias in women is that women live longer than men on average, and older age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s.- But when it comes to differences in the actual risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other dementias for men and women of the same age, findings have been mixed. Most studies of incidence in the United States have found no significant difference between men and women in the proportion who develop Alzheimer’s or other dementias at any given age., , – However, some European studies have reported a higher incidence among women at older ages,, and one study from the United Kingdom reported higher incidence for men. Differences in the risk of dementia between men and women may therefore depend on age and/or geographic region.,

Use And Costs Of Health Care Services

6.2.1 Use of health care services

People with Alzheimer’s or other dementias have twice as many hospital stays per year as other older people. Moreover, the use of health care services by people with other serious medical conditions is strongly affected by the presence or absence of dementia. In particular, people with coronary artery disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , stroke or cancer who also have Alzheimer’s or other dementias have higher use and costs of health care services than people with these medical conditions but no coexisting dementia.

FIGURE 13

• * This table does not include payments for all kinds of Medicare services, and as a result the average per-person payments for specific Medicare services do not sum to the total per-person Medicare payments.
• Created from unpublished data from the National 5% Sample Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries for 2014.

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How Does Alzheimer’s Disease Develop New Pathway Found

A second pathway through which Alzheimers develops has been discovered after researchers identified a new set of genetic markers for the disease.

Most Alzheimers genetic research focuses on amyloid-beta, which contributes to the formation of plaques found in the brains of people suffering from Alzheimers.

In this study, published in the journal Neuron, researchers were able to identify genes linked to the tau protein, a protein which develops in the brain as Alzheimers slowly progresses.

The findings may help provide targets for a different class of drugs that could be used for treatment.

According to the senior investigator of the study, Alison M. Goate, DPhil, the Samuel and Mae S. Ludwig Professor of Genetics in Psychiatry:

We measured the tau protein in the cerebrospinal fluid and identified several genes that are related to high levels of tau and also affect risk for Alzheimers disease. As far as were aware, three of these genes have no effect on amyloid-beta, suggesting that they are operating through a completely different pathway.

However, they also noted that a fourth gene, called APOE, was linked to elevated levels of the tau protein. Previous studies have found an association with the gene and amyloid-beta, which indicates that this gene influences more than one pathway.

Goate, professor of genetics and co-director of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, said:

What Causes Alzheimers Disease

Alzheimers disease is caused by the abnormal build-up of proteins in the brain. The build-up of these proteins called amyloid protein and tau protein leads to cell death.

The human brain contains over 100 billion nerve cells as well as other cells. The nerve cells work together to fulfill all the communications needed to perform such functions as thinking, learning, remembering, and planning. Scientists believe that amyloid protein builds up in the brain cells, forming larger masses called plaques. Twisted fibers of another protein called tau form into tangles. These plaques and tangles block the communication between nerve cells, which prevents them from carrying out their processes. The slow and ongoing death of the nerve cells, starting in one area of the brain then spreading to other areas, results in the symptoms seen in patients with Alzheimers disease.

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Reasons Rate Of Alzheimers Disease Increases With Age

When talking about the average age for Alzheimers, it is important to discuss the reasons the illness increases with age.

Healthy brains clear out amyloid-beta regularly. This ability tends to slow down as people grow older.

A study from The Washington University School of Medicine shows that for people in their 30s a healthy brain will clear amyloid-beta every 4 hours.

When a person is 80 the brain may take at least 10 hours to complete the job. This may explain the relationship between Alzheimers and age.

What Is The Burden Of Alzheimers Disease In The United States

• Alzheimers disease is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States.2
• The 6th leading cause of death among US adults.
• The 5th leading cause of death among adults aged 65 years or older.3

In 2020, an estimated 5.8 million Americans aged 65 years or older had Alzheimers disease.1 This number is projected to nearly triple to 14 million people by 2060.1

In 2010, the costs of treating Alzheimers disease were projected to fall between $159 and $215 billion.4 By 2040, these costs are projected to jump to between $379 and more than $500 billion annually.4

Death rates for Alzheimers disease are increasing, unlike heart disease and cancer death rates that are on the decline.5 Dementia, including Alzheimers disease, has been shown to be under-reported in death certificates and therefore the proportion of older people who die from Alzheimers may be considerably higher.6

Aging

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Do Treatments Add Time To Life Expectancy

Experts simply dont know whether treatments help a person live longer with Alzheimers disease. AD and other similar dementias progress no matter what. Treatments like medications and therapies have been conclusively shown to help manage symptoms, meaning they make it easier to live with the disease, but they do not reverse symptoms. The memory of a person with dementia who takes medications like cholinesterase inhibitors, for example, will be slightly better than the memory of someone who is not on medication. Quality of life therefore improves with treatment. This means better years with dementia, but probably not more years.

Brain Changes Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease

A healthy adult brain has about 100 billion neurons, each with long, branching extensions. These extensions enable individual neurons to form connections with other neurons. At such connections, called synapses, information flows in tiny bursts of chemicals that are released by one neuron and detected by another neuron. The brain contains about 100 trillion synapses. They allow signals to travel rapidly through the brain’s neuronal circuits, creating the cellular basis of memories, thoughts, sensations, emotions, movements and skills.

The accumulation of the protein fragment beta-amyloid outside neurons and the accumulation of an abnormal form of the protein tau inside neurons are two of several brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s.

Plaques and smaller accumulations of beta-amyloid called oligomers may contribute to the damage and death of neurons by interfering with neuron-to-neuron communication at synapses. Tau tangles block the transport of nutrients and other essential molecules inside neurons. Although the complete sequence of events is unclear, beta-amyloid may begin accumulating before abnormal tau, and increasing beta-amyloid accumulation is associated with subsequent increases in tau.,

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Stages Of Alzheimers Disease

People with Alzheimers disease differ in the patterns of problems they experience and in the speed with which their abilities deteriorate. Their abilities may change from day to day, or even within the same day. What is certain is that the persons abilities will deteriorate sometimes rapidly over a few months, sometimes more slowly, over a number of years.Some of the features of Alzheimers disease are classified into three stages. It is important to remember that not all of these features will be present in every person, nor will every person go through every stage. But these stages are still a useful description of the progression of Alzheimers disease.At all stages of Alzheimers disease, treatments and support services are available. Use these to make sure of the best possible quality of life for everyone affected by Alzheimers disease.

Highlights From The Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System

According to the World Health Organization, 47.5 million people live with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, worldwide.Footnote 1 As these conditions progress, they become highly debilitating for affected individuals and lead to major health impacts. With a growing and aging population, the number of Canadians living with dementiaFootnote i is expected to increase in future decades, with corresponding implications for health care needs and use. By 2031, it is projected that the total annual health care costs for Canadians with dementia will have doubled those from two decades earlier, from $8.3 billion to $16.6 billion.Footnote 2

Using data from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System , the Public Health Agency of Canada is able to conduct national surveillance for diagnosed dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, to support the planning and evaluation of related policies, programs, and services. This fact sheet presents an overview of these new estimates on diagnosed dementia and highlights information on associated health impacts collected through the National Population Health Study of Neurological Conditions.Footnote 3

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Slowing The Progression Of Symptoms

The same healthy lifestyle changes that are used to prevent Alzheimers disease can also be useful in slowing the advancement of symptoms.

Aluminum In Cookware And Other Products

It would be difficult to significantly reduce exposure to aluminum simply by avoiding the use of aluminum products such as pots and pans, foil and beverage cans.

That’s because the use of aluminum in these products only contributes to a very small percentage of the average person’s intake of aluminum. It’s important to remember that aluminum is an element found naturally in the environment and our bodies at levels that are normal and not harmful.

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Stage 7 Late Or Severe Dementia And Failure To Thrive

In this final stage, speech becomes severely limited, as well as the ability to walk or sit. Total support around the clock is needed for all functions of daily living and care.

Duration: impacted by quality of care, but average length is 1 to 2.5 years.

Caring for someone with Alzheimers

Caring for a loved one with Alzheimers disease can be a long, stressful, and intensely emotional journey. But it can be a rewarding, life-affirming experience as well.

The more you understand about the caregiving role, the better youll be able to prepare for future challenges and cope with the stress and emotional upheaval that comes with each new stage.

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Pillar #: Stress Management

Chronic or persistent stress can take a heavy toll on the brain, leading to shrinkage in a key memory area, hampering nerve cell growth, and increasing the risk of Alzheimers disease and dementia. Yet simple stress management tools can minimize its harmful effects and protect your brain.

Breathe! Quiet your stress response with deep, abdominal breathing. Restorative breathing is powerful, simple, and free!

Schedule daily relaxation activities. Keeping stress under control requires regular effort. Learning relaxation techniques such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, or yoga can help you unwind and reverse the damaging effects of stress.

Nourish inner peace. Regular meditation, prayer, reflection, and religious practice may immunize you against the damaging effects of stress.

Make fun a priority. All work and no play is not good for your stress levels or your brain. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike.

Keep your sense of humor. This includes the ability to laugh at yourself. The act of laughing helps your body fight stress.

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Why Knowing Life Expectancy Is Useful

Knowing what to expect, including life expectancy helps with planning. Someone predicted to survive for five or six years, as opposed to two years, will want to make more extensive plans, including getting an estate in order, activity planning, and budget. Knowing how quickly the disease is expected to progress symptomatically can impact care decisions. If the disease is predicted to come on very quickly, for example, then skipping traditional assisted living and looking into memory care or a nursing home might be the best option.

Knowing when full-time care becomes a requirement, either at-home or in a memory care residence, is especially useful given the high cost of care. It is estimated that 50% of nursing home residents have some level of dementia and over 60% of nursing home residents care is paid for by Medicaid. Medicaid eligibility is complicated, and families can spend up to 5 years waiting for a loved one with dementia to become Medicaid-eligible. Therefore, knowing how soon care is required can make a huge financial difference.

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