The Diagnosis Of Alzheimer's Disease

AD is incurable. It causes death within an average of 8 years after diagnosis, the last 3 of which are usually spent in an institution. AD is the number one reason of institutionalization in the
United States. In addition to memory loss, Alzheimer's patients appear dramatic personality changes, disorientation, declining physical coordination and an inability to care for themselves.
In the last stages, victims are bedridden, lose urinary and bowel control and suffer epileptic attacks. Death is commonly due to pneumonia, bedsores or urinary tract infection. The diagnosis of AD can be confirmed on autopsy by the presence of amyloid plaque, neurofibrillary tangles, neuronal & synaptic loss and brain atrophy in specific brain