What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. Symptoms eventually grow severe enough to interfere with daily tasks.

Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases.

Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging. The most significant known risk factor is increasing age, and the majority of people with Alzheimer’s are 65 and older. Alzheimer’s disease is considered younger-onset Alzheimer’s if it affects a person under 65. Younger-onset can also be referred to as early-onset Alzheimer’s. People with younger-onset Alzheimer’s can be in the early, middle, or late stage of the disease.
Alzheimer’s worsens over time. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over several years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer’s, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment.

On average, a person with Alzheimer’s lives 4 to 8 years after diagnosis but can live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors.

Alzheimer’s has no cure, but one treatment — aducanumab (Aduhelm™) — is the first therapy to demonstrate that removing amyloid, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, from the brain is reasonably likely to reduce the cognitive and functional decline in people living with early Alzheimer’s.

Other treatments can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve the quality of life for those with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. Today, a worldwide effort is underway to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset, and prevent it from developing.

Today, Alzheimer’s is at the forefront of biomedical research. Researchers are uncovering as many aspects of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias as possible. Some of the most remarkable progress has shed light on how Alzheimer’s affects the brain. The hope is this better understanding will lead to new treatments. Many potential approaches are currently under investigation worldwide.

The most common early symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering. The most common early sign of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering newly learned information.
Like the rest of our bodies, our brains change as we age. Most of us eventually notice some slowed thinking and occasional problems remembering certain things. However, severe memory loss, confusion, and other significant changes in the way our minds work may signify that brain cells are failing.
Alzheimer’s changes typically begin in the brain that affects learning. As Alzheimer’s advances through the brain, it leads to increasingly severe symptoms, including disorientation, mood, and behavior changes; deepening confusion about events, time, and place; unfounded suspicions about family, friends, and professional caregivers; more severe memory loss and behavior changes; and difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking.

Sixty percent of people living with dementia-related memory problems will become lost at some point.
For many people, getting lost happens without warning. Familiar surroundings may suddenly become strange to them. They get disoriented and are unable to find their way home.

Becoming lost isn’t just distressing; it can be dangerous. Half the people with dementia who go missing for 24 hours are seriously injured or dead.