How does Alzheimer’s kill you?
In: Biology
Alzheimers and related neurodegenerative diseases all function a similar way, by disrupting and eventually destroying the neural pathways in the brain.
In dementia patients, this starts with memory centres, causing them to be unable to create new memories and losing reliable access to old ones.
Eventually this degeneration moves into other areas of the brain, such as muscle control and eventually the autonomous nervous system. The frightening thing is how quickly the final stages accelerate.
I recently had an my wife’s grandfather go through this.
He started losing his memory about 15 years ago, and 3 years ago had to be placed in a secure dementia ward. By the start of 2023, he could barely recognise his daughters, and definitely could not recognise his grandchildren or great grandchildren. By the end of 2023, he could no longer walk. By the end of February, he was bedridden. By the end of March, he passed away.
Latest Answers