If October was the month for breast cancer awareness, November is the month for Alzheimer’s Disease awareness. A lot of people know about this disease, or at least have heard about it. But what do you really know about it?
I tried asking different people what they know about Alzheimer’s and I got different answers. Most of them – from young to old – have an idea of what Alzheimer’s is all about and the general consensus is that is has something to do with the brain and memory. This is true but let’s go into the details a little more.
Alzheimer’s Disease is described by MSN Health as:
Alzheimer’s disease damages the brain. It causes a steady loss of memory and how well you can speak, think, and carry on daily activities.
Alzheimer’s disease always gets worse over time, but how quickly this happens varies. Some people lose the ability to do daily activities early on. Others may still do fairly well until much later in the disease.
Mild memory loss is common in people older than 60. It may not mean that you have Alzheimer’s disease. But if your memory is getting worse, see your doctor. If it is Alzheimer’s, treatment may help.
The disease is attributed to changes in the brain, specifically the decrease of neurotransmitters.
These are chemicals which transmit messages or signals. As to why these changes occur, the medical community has no specific answer yet. Studies are ongoing and it may just be a matter of time till we find out more about Alzheimer’s Disease.
译文:
关注老年痴呆症
如果十月是乳腺癌意识月，十一月就是老年痴呆症意识月。很多人知道或者听说过老年痴呆症。但你真正对它了解多少呢？
我尝试询问不同的人他们对老年痴呆症了解多少，并得到了不同的回答。他们中许多人——从年轻人到老人——知道老年痴呆症是什么病，并且一致认为它与大脑和记忆力有关。这是事实，但是让我们更深入地了解它吧。
健康频道的节目这样描述老年痴呆症：
老年痴呆症破坏大脑，它引起记忆力的持续丧失，使你的说话，思考和进行日常活动的能力丧失。
老年痴呆症会随着时间的推移而恶化，但是恶化多快却是根据情况而变。有些人在患病早期失去日常活动的能力。其他人仍然有相当好日常活动能力，直到患病的后期才恶化。
轻度的记忆力丧失在60岁以上的老人当中很常见。这并不意味着患有老年痴呆症。但是如果你的记忆力不断减退，你就要去看医生了。如果是患上老年痴呆症，治疗也许会有帮助。
老年痴呆症是由于大脑里发生的改变，特别是神经传递素的减少引起的。这些神经传递素是传递信息或信号的化学物质。至于为什么会发生这种改变，社区医疗中心没有给出具体的回答。研究还在不断进行着，找到关于老年痴呆症的更多信息只是时间问题。