ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS IN ELDERLY
Resumo
Introduction: One of the main consequences of the aging population is increasing the prevalence of dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). The AD is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by extraneuronal plaque buildup amyloids and neurofibrillary tangles intraneuronal especially in parts temporal lobe that determine the decline cognitive progressivo1. This study aimed to analyze the symptoms and diagnostic procedures of AD in aging. Literature Review: The papers were selected in the SciELO database, using the keywords: aging and Alzheimer without delimiting period. Neuropsychiatric symptoms usually include behavioral domains, including: delusions, hallucinations, agitation, aggression, depression, dysphoria, anxiety, elation, euphoria, apathy, disinhibition, irritability, lability, aberrant motor behavior, sleep disturbances and appetite changes and eating disorders. The AD, in its initial phase, is accompanied by lexical-semantic problems similar to those found in semantic aphasia or transcortical sensory, ie, the subject forgets or exchange words, showing elliptical language with impoverished vocabulary (especially low frequency nouns and names), semantic paraphasias, pleonasms, excess deictic and circumlocutions, and still retains the "insight" (linguistic function) on their mistakes. These changes can be investigated with interviews with the patient and the informant. Diagnosis of the need to compromise includes at least one cognitive function in addition to the memory. Usually, executive function or language or selective and divided attention are the earliest affected later memory. Conclusion: All consensus consulted suggest the use of scales of activities of daily living for the diagnosis. While generating controversy, the early diagnosis of dementia allows therapeutic intervention, decreases stress levels for families, reduces the risk of accidents, prolonged autonomy and, in some cases, prevents or delays the onset of dementia.
