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Community Corner

Go Purple to Raise Alzheimer's Awareness

Today, 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, with nearly 150,000 afflicted in New Jersey alone.

You may notice your coworkers, neighbors and friends wearing purple todayl. Although purple is one of the hot trends in fashion, they are actually wearing this in honor of Alzheimer’s Awareness Day. 

This day, sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association, is meant to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease.   Awareness is critical, given the burden of this horrific disease. Today, 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, with nearly 150,000 afflicted in New Jersey alone. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the country and the only cause of death among the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.

While death rates from other prevalent diseases have declined over the last decade, the death rate from Alzheimer’s disease has risen over 60 percent.  There are nearly 2,000 deaths from Alzheimer’s every year in New Jersey. 

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Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, which is a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Dementia can be caused by any disease that results in damaged brain cells or damage to the connections between brain cells. 

Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases.  In addition to the classic signs of dementia, Alzheimer's disease also causes erratic behaviors and loss of body functions. This disease slowly takes away a person's identity, their ability to connect with others, think, eat, talk, walk and find his or her way home. Alzheimer’s is always fatal.

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Although the cause of Alzheimer’s is not known, risk factors for the disease have been found.  The greatest risk factor for developing this disease is advancing age, with a vast majority of those with Alzheimer’s being age 65 or older. The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s doubles about every five years after age 65.

After age 85, the risk reaches nearly 50 percent. Up to 5 percent of people with the disease have early-onset Alzheimer's (also known as younger-onset), which often appears in individuals as early as their 40s or 50s.

Family history is another strong risk factor.  Individuals with a parent, sister, brother or child with this disease are more likely to develop the disease in their lifetime.  Scientists have found genes that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, indicating that heredity plays an important role in disease development.

Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, where the symptoms of dementia increase as the patient ages.  While memory loss is mild in the early stages of the disease, these symptoms lead to severe cognitive impairment, where patients lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment.

Currently, Alzheimer’s has no cure and is always fatal.  Treatments are currently available which can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve quality of life for those with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. 

There is no single test that can diagnose Alzheimer’s disease.  Diagnosis is made through a combination of mental status testing, neurologic examination, blood tests and brain imaging. 

The Alzheimer Association has compiled their 10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s, which include memory loss that disrupts daily life, challenges in planning or solving problems, difficulty completing familiar tasks, confusion with time or place, trouble understanding visual images or spatial relationship, new problems with words in speaking or writing, misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps, poor judgment, withdrawing from social activities and changes in mood or personality.

Additional information is available at The Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org.

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