Tag: Mental Disorder

Cause of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a form of a mental disorder that is also known as “dementia”, a brain disorder that affects and seriously impedes the brain’s ability to process rational or normal thought. This usually results in limiting the amount of daily activities that require the use of cognitive abilities of its sufferers. Alzheimer’s is a debilitating disease because it affects the part of the brain that is responsible for thought, memory, and language.

Alzheimer’s is especially one of the most disabling diseases that can affect the older population. What makes Alzheimer’s disease a very serious affliction is that it is a progressive disorder that can slowly kill the irreplaceable nerve cells in the brain. Although Alzheimer’s is detected more often among patients over 60 years old, there are some individuals as young as 50 years of age who can show signs of Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease holds no boundaries. It can equally affect people of different cultures and is found to afflict both males and females in equal proportions. Not one particular test is known to be used for diagnosing Alzheimer’s. A variety of methods and tests are being used to diagnose 90 percent of Alzheimer’s cases. A 100 percent accuracy in diagnosing the disease can only be achieved upon autopsy to check for plaques and tangles in the sufferer’s brain.

The root cause of Alzheimer’s disease is not yet quite well understood despite the many years of research on the debilitating condition. Alzheimer’s is a complex disease that can be caused by a number of different influences.

The main cause of Alzheimer’s disease that researchers today have found out is damaged brain cells that die for unknown reasons. The cause of Alzheimer’s disease, which was first isolated by the German neurologist Dr. Alois Alzheimer, is the abnormal clumping together of brain cells. These clumps, also known as plaques, and knots or tangles which disrupt normal brain functioning, are considered as the main definitive characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Its Cause

Genetics are also being studied as a possible cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Another possible cause of the disease is seen to be a slow developing viral infection that results in brain inflammation. Although the actual cause of Alzheimer’s disease may not yet be known and still in the discovery stages, there are a number of risk factors that is known to increase the likelihood of Alzheimer development.

Age is known as a risk cause of Alzheimer’s disease. As a person ages, the likelihood that he or she will develop Alzheimer’s also increases. The average age of diagnosis for Alzheimer’s is about 80 years old. Gender is also seen as involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, but studies for this may still be inconclusive. The reason as to why the risk is seen to be greater in women is that they tend to live longer than the men.

Hereditary tendency is being looked into as another risk cause of Alzheimer’s disease. The presence of some defective genes and genetic mutations within the same bloodlines has also been seen to increase the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Another possible cause of Alzheimer’s disease that is being looked into is the malfunction of the immune system and protein imbalances that occur in the brain. Certain environmental factors such as the presence of aluminum in the home or workplace are also being put under investigation as a possible cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

Understanding Alzheimers Better

Alzheimers information is important for individuals who may be at the first stages of this disease. However, it is also very important for friends, family and caregivers of people with Alzheimers disease to have enough Alzheimers information to be able to understand the process of the progression of the disease as well as what to expect and what is the best care and treatment for this.

To understand Alzheimers more, we need to look at and understand dementia. Dementia is a mental disorder characterized by the loss of cognitive abilities. It is an extremely debilitating disease that afflicts some individuals in their old age. Alzheimers information shows that Alzheimers disease is the most common form of this disorder that greatly impairs normal mental operations.
There is no certain prevention or cure for Alzheimers disease right now but continuous studies and tests are being made toward this endeavor because according to Alzheimers information, this disease is irreversible. The disease also continues to progress into different stages and symptoms of this worsen over time.

One of the earliest symptoms of Alzheimers is short term memory loss. It then progresses into a gradual decline of other cognitive abilities. After the disease has progressed further, one may notice a marked change in the sufferer’s behavior and at the very last stages of the disease, the individual with Alzheimers will have to depend on others for simple activities such as eating and mobility.

Alzheimers information tells us that the course of the disease varies from person to person with a range of five to twenty years. Alzheimers eventually ends in death due to complications and infections.

Although more and more Alzheimers information has been collated and researched throughout the years, the progress has been steady but slow. For instance, the Alzheimers information on what causes the disease is still uncertain. There are some major hypotheses that seem to revolve around two factors: genetic or hereditary and a complex environmental interaction.

Alzheimers information shows us that it is primarily a disease that affects the brain. It is in the abnormalities in the brain that result in massive atrophy of the brain’s neurotransmitters, nerves and neurons. From these stem the malfunctions that begin with short term memory loss to sever impairment to memory and the loss of motor skills and other normal bodily functions.

An abnormally large deposit of protein in the brain causes the massive atrophy. The absolute detection of Alzheimers can only really be done post mortem through an autopsy where the brain is examined and it shows a significant amount of shrinkage and a smoothening of the usual brain wrinkles.

However, one need not wait for an autopsy to find out whether one is suffering from Alzheimers disease or not. With modern Alzheimers information, one can have an 85 % to 90% accuracy in the diagnosis of the disease. No laboratory tests are done.
Instead, there will be some cognitive tests and with a series of exercises and questions that are crossed checked against other possible sources of dementia. These mental tests done to be able to diagnose Alzheimers help also by letting the physician know at which stage of progression the sufferer may be at.

Individuals with the age of 65 and above are most likely to be at risk of Alzheimers.

The Wear and Tear of Anxiety, Panic, and Nervous Breakdown

The Wear and Tear of Anxiety, Panic, and Nervous Breakdown

People often hear of a type of energy that has little to do with muscles and work, an energy without focus or function nervous energy. And most often than not, people recognize it by any other names such as anxiety, stress, panic, nervous breakdown, or feeling uptight.

Older people have no monopoly on this sense of malaise. Each year, Americans of all ages spend more than $300 million on tranquilizers and sedatives to soothe their fraying nerves.

In reality, stress is a 20th-century phenomenon, the price people pay for a living in our high-powered, fast-paced world. In the short tern, most people pay the price in headaches, heartburn, sleepless nights, and stiff, aching muscles.

In the end, the price gets higher. Stress has been implicated as a contributing factor in conditions that range from alcoholism to hypertension, from arthritis to impotence.

Its effects are cumulative. Whereas, episodes of intense stress affect our immediate well-being, decades of life under pressure affect how long and how well people will continue to live.

Stress is not always negative. Some of lifes happiest momentsbirths, weddings, reunions, retirementsare enormously stressful. Stress is a spice of life, a motivating force for growth and adaptation. But the human body cannot simply differentiate between positive and negative stresses, between genuine threats and vague anxieties.

When stress becomes a problem, it can lead to one devastating mental disorder known as nervous breakdown. Experts do not consider this as a clinical term but more of a popular term because it is commonly used by people to avoid the shame of a particular clinical finding.

Nervous breakdown could also be caused by many factors such as anxiety and panic disorder. Even if they seem to mean the same, each has its own unique characteristic.

People, who were diagnosed with anxiety disorder, generally pertain to those who have mood disorders such as bipolar disorder or depressions.

On the other hand, panic disorder refers to the repeated occurrence of unforeseen panic attacks. Panic happens when your body instantly reacts to whatever kind of stressor that is available as of the moment.

There are times when some people were brought up negatively, with pressures more than what they can handle. These things usually happen when parents tend to demand more items from their kids. What happens next is that their children get anxious of always doing things right according to what their parents have told them. Otherwise, they are bound for numerous punishments.

Yet, despite constant and chaotic stresses, anxieties, and nervous breakdowns, people can actually cope. And most of the time, people cope very well.

Physiologists explain these day-to-day, person-to-person differences in terms of the all-or-none law. Every nerve cell, or neuron, responds either to maximum capacity or not at all. Like a rifle, a neuron either fires or does not.

An overestimated neuron is like a rifle with the safety switch off. Even a slight stimulus can startle it from a quiet to an active state.

The point here is that the more active the nervous system, the more active it is likely to become. This cycle of reactions is caused by the feedback mechanisms of the sensory receptors in the muscles.

With that in mind, it can be concluded that many people nowadays are strolling around with intense nervous breakdowns, anxieties, or panic disorders that frequently transform to physical sensation feeling.

Whatever the meanings are, these things all pertains to one basic truth there is an increasing behavioral and environmental attack. All of these things highly recommend that people, whether young or old, must not take their health undervalued.

The Symptoms Caused by Anxiety Stress

Psychiatrists and those in the medical field believe that anxiety is a manifestation of three things. These are mood, thinking and behavior. These may not have that much effect at first but this can get worse if left untreated.

This can happen to anyone regardless of gender, age or culture. These can make a person experience a nervous breakdown, become mentally ill or in some cases suicidal.

There are over 27 million people or 15% of the entire population of the United States that experience stress at different times of the day. The best indication that these symptoms are really getting to the person is when this affects the output at work and the relationship with other people.

Doctors have not yet fully determined what causes anyone to experience stress. The only thing that these specialists are sure of are the symptoms since these are quite visible.

One example of anxiety stress is when someone experiences a panic attack. The usual symptoms associated with this are both physical and psychological. The person may have palpitations, sweat a lot, have difficulty breathing, nausea, chills and hot flashes.

The attack may happen for 15 minutes and could last longer. The person should know that this may happen once a year which is a good sign that the patient may not have mental disorder.

People who have post traumatic stress disorder have different symptoms not normally seen by those who are overworked. This is because the individual may have witnessed or experienced something violent which will make the patient not sleep well, have nightmares, sweat or absent mindedly visualize a different world where one is presently in.

Someone who feels trapped or has a phobia will not be able to speak or act well, think properly or just go mad. There are many things that can trigger this to happen such as being entrapped in a closed space, looking down from a tall building or just seeing a certain creature which one really despises.

Having good relations or being able to interact well with others is a good thing to establish a network. Unfortunately, not everyone can do that especially if the individual has a social phobia.

The symptoms of anyone who has this will rather stay home and not go out or even talk in front of a large audience. The parents or friends will notice this if the person always back out or gives an excuse so that someone else will do it instead.

The symptoms of anyone who experiences anxiety stress is very broad. This is because there are many classifications and this will take time for the doctor to single it out before this is discovered and worked out.

People who have one of these problems shouldn’t worry since those in the medical field have many treatments available. Some doctors may try to let the individual confront that fear to make it go away. If the situation is more towards a certain task, a pill can be prescribed to make the patient calm after a few minutes.

The use of drugs is short term. This is the reason that exercise, proper diet and rest are highly recommended in patients. Since the anxiety in each patient is different, doctors advise that the person undergo a physical and mental evaluation first before any type of treatment be administered.