Alzheimer's disease is a brain organic disease. It is named after the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer (1864 - 1915), who first described the disease scientifically in 1906.

The biggest risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease is age. Only in rare cases, those affected are younger than 60 years.

Characteristic of the disease is the slowly progressive decline of nerve cells and nerve cell contacts.n the brain of Alzheimer's patient's typical protein deposits (amyloid plaques) can be detected.

The clinical picture includes disorders of memory and orientation, speech disorders, disorders of the ability to think and to judge as well as changes of the personality. These disorders vary in severity and increase as the disease progresses. They make the management of normal everyday life more difficult.

Patients are increasingly dependent on help and support. The respective requirements for care, care, therapy, and medical treatment are very different. Because Alzheimer's patients are not a single group, but individuals with very different CVs, skills and deficits, living in different social and economic situations.

You will find information on the diagnosis, therapy, genetics, and biology of Alzheimer's disease on the following information sheets, which are available in pdf format. These factsheets have been compiled for us by recognized experts in various fields. The information on drug therapies can be found in a similar form in the guidelines of scientific societies and patient guidelines.

The course of Alzheimer's disease
Mild dementia
In the early stage of the disease, impairments of short-term memory are in the foreground. Patients can not memorize the content of conversations or find discarded items. In addition, there are disruptions of planning and organizing thinking, word finding and orientation disorders.

The patients often realize that they forget something. They are confused because others claim things that they can not remember. This is threatening for them and it comes increasingly to embarrassing situations. Depending on the personality structure, the patients react depressed, aggressive, defensive or retreating. They try to maintain a "facade".

At this stage, those affected are largely independent in everyday tasks. Only complicated activities, such as keeping bank accounts or using public transport, can only be done with the help of them. The ability to make judgments and solve problems is limited but not suspended. For this reason, those affected at this stage of the disease must be involved in decisions about their treatment and care.

Moderate dementia
The limitations of memory, thinking and orientation gradually increase and reach a level that no longer allows independent living. Those affected increasingly need help with simple tasks of daily living such as shopping, preparing meals, operating household appliances or personal care. Many sufferers can not form complete sentences and are therefore difficult to understand. Memories of long-ago events are fading as well. They no longer know who they married or what profession they did, their children's name or how old they are.

The perception of one's own illness is largely lost. It may happen that the patients feel like in their prime, looking for their long-dead parents or going to work. Furthermore, pronounced changes in behavior can be added. They are particularly stressful for the relatives. Most common is a high degree of restlessness. The dementia patients go restlessly up and down, run after their caregivers, constantly ask the same questions or constantly want to leave home. Many patients also show irritable and aggressive behaviors. Not infrequently occur delusional fears or beliefs, z. B. robbed, cheated or deported.

Severe dementia
In the advanced stage, there is a high degree of mental degradation, the language is limited to a few words or completely dried up. The dementia sufferers are dependent on help with all the activities of daily life. As a rule, control of the bladder and bowels, as well as the posture, is lost. Many can no longer walk without help, need a wheelchair or become bedridden. It can cause stiffness in the limbs, dysphagia, and seizures.

The susceptibility to infections is increasing. Alzheimer's disease itself does not cause death. The most common cause of death is an infectious disease.