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 Getting old is a normal phase of our lives, but many humans are trying their best to hide it as soon as it comes. Dying one’s graying or whitening hair, undergoing cosmetic procedures and putting creams on one’s face to conceal unflattering wrinkles. Anyway, who wants to see their skin totally sagged and their face totally devoid of all youthful beauty once they grow old?
No wonder that the myth of the Fountain of Youth has still continually fascinated lots of people from all over the world. But in as much as we try to evade the phase of aging, we then realize that we really can’t escape it. What’s the best thing to do then? Face it. Or better yet, grow old in style. But one thing that we can’t help to lose as we grow in years is our mental abilities. It is a definite fact that our brains when we reach the age of sixty won’t be able to perform certain operations as faster as it was back when we are still teenagers, let’s say. And one thing common about old people is this particular degenerative disease, the Alzheimer’s disease.
You’ve probably heard this particular disease at least once in your life. Since this is a global issue relevant to mental health, then it is just proper for us to know more about this incurable ailment not just of the brain but of the whole body in general: Alzheimer’s disease basically degenerates the body’s system. When you started acquiring the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, you will then feel that you are unable to perform certain daily activities that you used to do as before, simply because your motor functions are declining. The earliest system that an Alzheimer’s patient will totally feel is the loss of memory, or what we know as amnesia. In here, the patient forgets older memories, which will progressively continue as soon as the disease progresses as well. The patient might also forget some basic information like the names of his or her direct relatives, or sometimes, even his or her own name. There is also a very noticeable impairment of one’s ability to speak a language, which in medical terms is called aphasia, to do some skilled movements, which in medical terms is called apraxia, and the ability to recognize faces, things and many others (also called agnosia). The ultimate cause of the disease is still unknown but it is rest assured that further scientific researches are being done to possibly give additional developments that might lead to the total cure for the disease. Diagnosis of this particular disease is primarily based on the patient’s history and the way he or she will respond to the various cognitive skills and mental reasoning tests that will be administered to him or her during a prescribed periods or time of observation. Interviews of direct family members or caregivers who took care of the patient in the past is also required during the initial assessment, so as to properly determine the possible causes of why the patient is suffering from the disease. A brain tissue from the patient is also obtained through an autopsy and an image scan of the brain is also performed to detect any signs of dementia.
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Mental Issues 
