Alzheimer’s Inside the Brain

For Cynthia Guzman, a 71-year-old living in northern California, profound confusion at a stop sign while driving one day about eight years ago was a clear signal that something was wrong. Now retired, the former nurse says, “I didn’t know where I was going. It was like I woke up at the stop sign,” which was a frightening moment. “I was scared and confused,” Guzman recalls, She was eventually diagnosed with dementia, and a few years later with Lewy body dementia, a severe form of dementia that can also cause Parkinson’s-like symptoms and hallucinations . She now does a lot of advocacy work for the Alzheimer’s Association, sharing her story so that others might have a better outcome when dealing with dementia. In all forms of dementia, whether it’s Alzheimer’s disease — which accounts for about 60 to 80% of all cases of dementia — Lewy body dementia or another type of neurodegenerative cognitive illness , the brain undergoes a series of structural and chemical changes. These changes result in the symptoms we identify as dementia, including: — Impaired memory. — Impaired language and communication skills. — A loss of ability to pay attention and focus. — A loss of good reasoning and judgment skills. — An increase in feeling confused or disoriented . — Increased irritability. — A reduction in visual perception. — A reduction in the ability to care for oneself and attend to the activities of daily living, such as preparing meals, traveling and keeping appointments. [ See: How Music Helps People With Alzheimer’s Disease. ] “Alzheimer’s is a decline in cognitive and executive function that’s commonly seen in the older population,” says Dr. Vibhor Krishna, a neurosurgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center . Though it may be more commonly seen in people […]

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