Скачать или смотреть Alzheimer's Disease: Recognizing Early Treatment and Building Healthy Defense Together

Alzheimer's disease, also known as dementia, is the most common type of dementia in old age, accounting for about 50 to 70 percent of dementia in old age. The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease is about 4% to 5% among people over 65 years old and is higher among women than men. In the face of this challenge, the medical community has been exploring novel treatments, such as the recently launched lencanemab, which can remove specific deposits in the brain and slow down the progression of the disease, but is only applicable to patients with mild cognitive impairment and early-stage dementia.

Traditional treatments are mostly symptomatic, such as cholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists, which are unable to remove intracerebral deposits but can alleviate symptoms to a certain extent. However, many patients and their families often miss the best time for treatment due to insufficient knowledge of the disease, and seek medical treatment only in the middle and late stages, when the therapeutic effect is greatly reduced. In addition, the disease progresses slowly but continues to aggravate, and some patients and their families stop taking the medication on their own due to the lack of significant improvement, which further accelerates the deterioration of the disease.

In terms of treatment costs, most Alzheimer's drugs require long-term use, which is expensive, and as the disease progresses, antipsychotics and complications may need to be combined, bringing a heavy financial and psychological burden to patients and their families.

Medical strategies vary for patients at different stages of the disease. Early stage (mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia) is the critical period for treatment, and the progression of the disease can be significantly slowed down by medication. However, once the disease enters the middle and late stages, treatment is limited and mainly focuses on symptomatic treatment and prevention of complications. Therefore, raising public awareness of Alzheimer's disease and encouraging early screening and intervention are of great significance in improving the quality of life of patients and reducing the burden on society.