ROLE OF THE PHARMACIST IN GUIDING THE TREATMENT OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Abstract

: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that is manifested by cognitive and memory deterioration, progressive impairment of activities of daily living and a variety of neuropsychiatric symptoms and behavioral changes. The disease sets in when the processing of certain proteins in the central nervous system starts to go wrong. Fragments of poorly cut, toxic proteins then appear inside neurons and in the spaces between them. As a consequence of this toxicity, there is a progressive loss of neurons in certain regions of the brain, such as the hippocampus, which controls memory, and the cerebral cortex, essential for language and reasoning, memory, recognition of sensory stimuli and abstract thinking. The cause is still unknown, but it is believed to be genetically determined. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of neurodegenerative dementia in older people, accounting for more than half of dementia cases in this population.