World Alzheimer's Day 2017: Top 7 Unknown Facts About Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. The main symptom of this brain disease is memory loss and diminishing cognitive skills. It affects people in the old age, anywhere above 65 years of age. And for those who live over 85 years of age the odds of developing this condition is one in two. Alzheimer's affects over 44 million people all over the world. It starts with forgetting recently-learned information to putting things in strange places. Overtime, it worsens and eventually ends in death because of the vulnerable health conditions of this age.

This World Alzheimer's Day, know the many unknown facts about Alzheimer's:

1. Half of the adults over 85 years of age suffer from Alzheimer's

It is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer's can be found in every second adult over 85 years of age and one in eight adults over 65 years of age.

2. More than half of the people affected by this disease are not aware of it

More than half of the patients of Alzheimer's are not even aware of it. This is partly due to the fact that Alzheimer's is not detected or is difficult to detect in its early stages which is known as Mild Cognitive Impairment.

3. Women are more affected by Alzheimer's

Yes, more than half of the adults affected by this disease are women. A major reason for this is the fact that women live longer than men.

Unknown facts about Alzheimer's
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4. Alzheimer's may even develop as early as 30 years of age

Yes it is a disease of the elderly but in some cases the symptoms can be sighted at an age as young as 30 years. Though the odds of it are very low, there still are cases when it appears at an early age, around 40 to 50 years of age.

5. More cases are reported each year

Due to improved medical provisions and facilities, life expectancy has increased. As a result, more and more people are affected by Alzheimer's.

6. There is no cure

"In the absence of cures for (Alzheimer's disease), the current best treatment is to prevent Alzheimer's disease," says Schulz, adding that modifying risk factors is "a great way to accomplish that."

For this you can just consume a healthy diet and that in turn can protect you from getting affected. This World Alzheimer's Day, adapt a healthy diet in a young age to avoid this condition later.

7. Diagnosing Alzheimer's is tricky and expensive

As it is a condition of the brain, it can be quite tricky to diagnose the possibility of this disease in the future. A PET scan is the method of diagnosing this condition but it falls pretty heavy on a person's pocket. But a word of relief here, researches on how blood tests can be used for the diagnosis of this disease are in progress and may soon open a possibility for diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

Celebrate World Alzheimer's Day 2017 with comprehensive knowledge of this disease and also how you can protect yourself against it in the future.