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Alzheimer's disease: piecing together the evidence assignment

User Polash
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Answer:


Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death. The cause of Alzheimer's disease is poorly understood. Other risk factors include a history of head injury, clinical depression, and high blood pressure. Initial symptoms are often mistaken for normal aging. Exercise programs may be beneficial with respect to activities of daily living and can potentially improve outcomes. Behavioral problems or psychosis due to dementia are often treated with antipsychotics, but this is not usually recommended, as there is little benefit and an increased risk of early death.

Step-by-step explanation:

The course of Alzheimer's is generally described in three stages, with a progressive pattern of cognitive and functional impairment. Detailed neuropsychological testing can reveal mild cognitive difficulties up to eight years before a person fulfills the clinical criteria for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. These early symptoms can affect the most complex activities of daily living. The most noticeable deficit is short term memory loss, which shows up as difficulty in remembering recently learned facts and inability to acquire new information. Subtle problems with the executive functions of attentiveness, planning, flexibility, and abstract thinking, or impairments in semantic memory can also be symptomatic of the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

User Arthu Santiago
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