Alzheimer's disease is a cruel disease that attacks individuals at a time in their lives when life should be "good". Alzheimer's sinister advancement in the human brain reduces a loving, caring grandma or grandpa into a person who does not recognize the people they love the most.

The duration of Alzheimer's disease may vary from as little as 3 years to 20 years. Memory and reasoning skills are usually the first sign of the disease. But the disease will continue to progress and other cells die in different regions of the brain. The person who is in the latter stages of Alzheimer's will need complete care. The cruel results of this disease is that even though an individual has no other serious illness, the loss of brain function result in death.

Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia differs from Alzheimer's disease in that the individuals retain their memory. The memory is affected in these disorders but not to the level of those patients who have Alzheimer's disease. Patients who are diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia retain their ability to carry out motor performance activities.

For example: If a patient who has Frontotemporal dementia is a house painter They may very well retain their ability to paint. The problem that is associated with this dementia is primarily personality problems. However manual dexterity remains in tact. The person with this disorder very seldom will get lost or wander off as is the case with patients suffering from Alzheimer's.

Dementia with Lewy Bodies

Dementia with Lewy bodies is the most commonly diagnosed form of progressive dementia. As in Alzheimer's, there is a progressive decline in brain functioning. There are however additional features that are observed:

Changes in alertness and attention Lethargy, such as frequent drowsiness Parkinson's motor skill

The build-up of Lewy bodies which are bits of alpha-synuclein protein is considered the cause of this disease. The accumulation of alpha-synuclein accumulation is also linked to Parkinson's disease. There is a similarity between the symptoms of DLB ,Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The similarities that exist between the different forms of dementia can make it difficult for a doctor to make a definitive diagnosis.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

This disease is a rare degenerative disease that is always fatal. This disease affects about one person in every one million people worldwide. Symptoms usually start around the age of 60. Ninety percent of people who have this disease die within 1 year of diagnosis. Memory loss, behavioral changes, coordination and visual problems are early symptoms.

Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson disease is the most common form of degenerative dementia disease after Alzheimer's. Parkinson's is also a chronic, progressive disease that results when nerve cells in a part of the midbrain die or are impaired. These disturbances in the control centers of the brain cause the symptoms of PD.

Some of the same types of alpha-synuclein protein that is found in patients diagnosed with Lewy bodies are also found in the brains of people with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. These findings suggest to researchers and Doctors that either DLB is related to these other causes of dementia or that it is possible for an individual to have both diseases at the same time.