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- Discovered in 11907 Alois Alzheimer
- Most common type of dementia, about 60% of all people who have dementia have this type
- Affects 1 in 20 people over 65 – 1 in 5 over 80
- There are deposits called Plaques & Tangles in the brain
- Memory enhancing medication can sometimes be prescribed
- Spatial disturbance (environmental disorientation, route finding, dressing problems, copying shapes)
- People experience general changes in the way their brains interpret, organise & store information (cognitive function)
- There is a slow progression with some periods of stability
- The brain cells which store memory are affected and the chemical which helps send messages (acetylcholine) is not made properly
- There is a small genetic risk
- People often have language problems
- The exact cause is still unknown