Alzheimer's disease gradually but irreversibly takes away memory, the ability to think, normal life. People affected cease to be themselves at all and develop strange, surprising and unacceptable behaviour. What really happens to an Alzheimer's patient and why? What are the first signals? What to do then? What does the uncontrolled development of this disease look like? Neurologist Dr Olga Milczarek from the SCM Clinic in Kraków talked about all this.
Monika Mikolajska/ Medonet: People who have had or have cases of Alzheimer's in their family tell of their loved ones' unusual behaviour. Going out naked, smearing food on the walls, moving around on all fours, crying suddenly, constantly suspecting their spouse of infidelity, banging their fists on doors or windows - these are just examples. These people completely cease to be themselves, the family loses them, as it were, piece by piece. What happens in the brain of a person with Alzheimer's?
Dr Olga Milczarek, specialist in neurology: At the outset, we need to clarify one very important point. The diagnosis of alzheimer's as a specific disease is based on a detailed histopathological examination. Colloquially, however, it is quite common to say that a person has alzheimer's. Then other dementia syndromes, which we say are of the Alzheimer's type, are also understood under this term. This term means that these disorders resemble alzheimer's, but we do not know what triggers them, and there can be many factors. Examples are viral diseases leading to brain damage, alcohol disease, thyroid disease, diabetes. What exactly will bring COVID-19 is also, at this point, only an assumption. It is worth bearing this distinction in mind.
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Source: medonet.pl