Most people are aware of Alzheimer's disease, but generally we think about this as only an affliction of the elderly. The truth is that younger people are not immune to this unfortunate disease; in fact more than 200,000 Americans under the age of 65 are affected by early onset Alzheimer's. Here is a closer look at this often overlooked disease.
Causes of Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease
At this point in time, there is not definitive or widely agreed upon understanding of what causes early onset Alzheimer's disease. Scientists have reported that, among a relatively small number of families around the world, there appear to be a variety of genes that manifest themselves as Alzheimer's symptoms in people in their 30's, 40's, and 50's. This type of Alzheimer's is referred to as "familial Alzheimer's disease" when several generations of a family are affected by deterministic genes.
Diagnosing Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease
Sadly, many people who suffer from early onset Alzheimer's are not correctly diagnosed when they begin displaying symptoms of the disease. This can be attributed to a number of factors: for one, the majority of doctors are not looking for nor considering Alzheimer's to be a likely cause for symptoms being displayed by a patient in their 30's or 40's because of the relatively infrequent rate of the disease among this age group. Furthermore, many of the symptoms of early onset Alzheimer's are also symptoms of other, much more common problems faced by many adults: stress, depression, anxiety, and so on. Finally, there is not just one set of symptoms which people with early onset Alzheimer's will display; symptoms very from person to person, and when the doctor sees the patient, they might be in early, middle, or late stage of dementia. Because of these reasons, it can be a very difficult, frustrating, and time consuming process for many sufferers of early onset Alzheimer's before they are finally properly diagnosed.
Treatment Options
There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease. That being said, once the disease has been diagnosed, people with the disease can get support and with support comes a higher quality of life. If you or a loved one is experiencing any noticeable amount of problems with memory, the first step is to write down exactly what difficulties and symptoms are being experienced. Then, an appointment should be made with a health professional that specializes in Alzheimer's disease.
Mike Lewis is the content manager for Chicagoland Methodist Senior Services. CMSS provides dementia care for seniors in Chicago.
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