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One of the most common diseases for people over the age of 70 is Alzheimer’s disease. Alois Alzheimer discovered this condition in 1906. In the last 97 years humanity could not find a cure for this dodgy ailment. With no known causes for this strange condition we have not gotten far either. With data constantly flowing from research we are still trying to figure out this puzzling question.

A German neuropathologist named Alois Alzheimer in 1906 originally diagnosed the condition. The Alzheimer’s disease was originally thought to be part of aging and a natural process however it was discovered that only certain individuals protracted this ailment and since then no reasonable cause has been found for this disorder. Until today no cause has been found for Alzheimers and because it is so elusive there is very little background to it.

About 10% of all American people over 70 have significant memory problems and half of those have Alzheimer’s disease. The people most likely to get this condition are females 70 years old or older. This disease is not known to target any race more than any other. The condition is extremely common among people of 70 years old or older.

There are no known causes for Alzheimers. There have been a couple theories on too much mercury, aluminum, lead, and other substances could have caused this common condition. Besides these weird theories there is little or no evidence on the causes of AD. This disorder is neither genetic nor caused by any known bacteria and is not stimulated by our surroundings either.

There are many symptoms of this disease. The symptoms of this ailment can vary from a slight disability of remembering were they put they’re toothbrush to paralization or even death. The symptoms increase over time in severity and cause major mood swings, amnesia, hallucinations, and forgetting major events in life history. Some lighter symptoms may include repeating statements, losing things, forgetting names of common things, getting lost on common routes, passivity and loss of interest in things previously enjoyed.

There are many treatments for Alzheimers disease currently on the market, however these medications are expensive and barely ever do anything other than slow down the symptoms a little. These medications are not effective against eventual amnesia. Drugs used for this disorder are in a class of medications called acetyl cholinesterase inhibitors (drugs that increase the amount of the blood chemical acetylcholine) and anti-oxidants. Only on a few occasions has the condition been reversed but most treatments just try to slow it down. Medications don’t try to stop the disease itself they just block the symptoms.

There are constantly people saying that they found a revolutionary medication for Alzheimer’s, however the truth is that the stuff people take for this disease today is not much of a revelation when compared to treatments five years ago. There is much research in the direction of Alzheimers today but progress is slow. No one so far has found a cure for Alzheimer’s and that’s probably how it’s going to stay for a while.

Overall this condition has eluded humanity for almost a century and probably will be stopped in the next. Alzheimer’s disease with its vicious symptoms of amnesia and paralization must be stopped. If the 5% of people over 70 that are currently under the influence of Alzheimers cannot discover the cure for this disease then we must do it for them.