Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer’s disease is named after the neurologist Alois Alzheimer, who provided the first scientific description of the disease in 1906. It is the most common form of dementia, affecting about 60 to 70% of the 50 million dementia patients worldwide. The disease is a neurodegenerative disease (a group of diseases including Parkinson’s disease, for example). Neurodegenerative diseases are associated with a progressive loss of nerve cells and cell function.
Alzheimer’s disease
Many people, especially the elderly, are afraid of developing Alzheimer’s disease. But what is it exactly?
Stages of Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common and probably the best-known form of dementia. There is no cure as yet and it gradually leads to the loss of brain function and the ability to manage even the simplest of tasks. The disease progresses in stages, but the course of the disease varies from person to person and is not necessarily linear. Therefore, it is not surprising that elderly people and their relatives begin to worry even over slight forgetfulness. But even in older age, not every gap in memory is automatically an early sign of the onset of dementia.
The 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is a severe, progressive brain condition for which there is no cure as yet. Fear of Alzheimer’s disease increases with age, yet just because someone cannot find the right word or misplaces things, it is far from being a sign of an early stage of dementia. But how is it possible to distinguish between normal age-related changes and early indicators of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease?
Non-invasive brain stimulation
Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) procedures are now essential tools in clinical research and practice. They offer innovative ways of influencing specific areas of the brain transcranially (i.e. through the skull) in a targeted way without causing damage or requiring any invasive surgical intervention. The term covers various procedures, which each make use of unique physical mechanisms such as magnetic fields , focused ultrasound waves , electrical currents and acoustic shock waves to influence neuronal activity.
