My friends grandmother has Alzheimers and was basically told she has six months to live. Now I'm sure the doctor was much kinder in his delivery of this news. and even though there was a lot more information given, this is about all she got out of the conversation-six months to live. Why is it fatal?
2007-08-02 08:07:39 · 4 answers · asked by persaunna 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Other - Diseases
Alzheimer disease is a progressive illness in which brain cells are destroyed. Basically things called "neurofibrillary tangles" and other things begin to produce themselves and start edging out the things in brain cells that are supposed to be there. Brain atrophy occurs (that is, the brain shrinks). As time goes on--because the brain is shrinking--memory, the ability to think, and the ability to function is lost until the person just sinks into a stupor and dies of this disease. It is usually a slow process--so unless your friend's Grandma is already in the end stages of disease (ie, a vegetable in a nursing home), it would be odd for doctor to say she has 6 months to live. By the time a doc tells someone that their relative has 6 more months to live from Alzheimer disease, it more of a relief.
As yet, there is no cure although medical researchers are searching for way to slow down the disease.
2007-08-02 08:28:25 · answer #1 · answered by philosophyangel 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My mother has Alzheimer's too. Many people live for years with Alzheimer's, not sure why they gave her 6 months.
Basically what is happening with Alzheimer's is that your brain is drying up. Sections of it just dry up and die. Eventually it effects your vital organs, they stop working correctly.
2007-08-02 08:39:54 · answer #2 · answered by Fester Frump 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Alzheimer's slowly and steadily destroys the brain. It's usually fatal because it will eventually, in the end stages, affect the body's ability to regulate itself. Usually the patient will stop feeding themselves and will require a feeding tube or IV fluids and eventually their body will forget to do vital things such as breathe on its own or may not be able to swallow and they can choke on their own saliva. It's a very sad thing to watch a loved one go through this kind of transformation.
http://www.alz.org/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer's_disease might help answer more questions for you.
2007-08-02 08:21:59 · answer #3 · answered by Molly M 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Um... if your brain basically turns into a sponge, don't you think you'd die?!
2007-08-02 08:15:41 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋