Alzheimer's is a terminal disease, which is also the most common cause of dementia, a condition characterized by a severe loss of intellectual and social abilities that interferes with daily functioning. The disease causes healthy brain tissue to degenerate, resulting in a steady decline in the patient's mental faculties. Listed below are some of the most common effects that Alzheimer's has on the brain.
Brain Damage
The Alzheimer's Association affirms that this disease physically changes the whole brain, causing massive tissue loss to this vital organ. According to the Association, Alzheimer's causes the brain cortex to shrink, resulting in severe damage to the hippocampus, brain ventricles and other areas of the brain. Over time, this damage affects almost all the brain's functions. The Alzheimer's Association attributes this damage to the formation of two types of cells in the brain tissue called plaques and tangles.
Memory Loss
According to the Alzheimer's Association, the disease affects the area of the brain that is involved in memory and learning. This results in a progressive loss of memory that causes the person to repeat himself or herself, forget appointments, regularly misplace items and forget the names of everyday objects or even family members' names. The person will also get confused and disoriented more and more often.
Impaired Judgment
As the disease progresses, Alzheimer's affects the person's intellectual capacities. Over time, the person experiences increased difficulty doing things that require planning, abstract thinking and judgment in solving everyday problems. For example, the patient may wear winter clothes in the summer, or may not know what to do if food cooking on a stove begins to burn. The person will also have trouble handling money or balancing a checkbook.
Personality Changes
The brain impairment that results from the ravages of this disease results in personality and behavioral changes (see Resources). Initially, the person's own personality characteristics may also be exaggerated in the earliest stages of the disease. In time, however, it erases traits of the person's personality. Mood swings, aggressive outbursts, and crying spells may also stem from the damage of this disease on the brain.
Language Problems
Alzheimer's also affects the language faculties, which gradually diminishes the patient's ability to speak and to understand speech. It results in an increasingly limited vocabulary and speech difficulties, as well as a progressive loss of reading and writing skills. In advanced stages of the disease, the individual loses his or her verbal language abilities and the capacity to communicate even the most basic of ideas.
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