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Are you getting increasingly forgetful? Do you forget where you kept keys of your car keep your car keys usually? Is this all happening too frequently and you are forgetting things that you never forgot earlier and which a normal person would not ordinarily forget?

This may be the beginning of what has been describe as 'living death'. It's called the Alzheimer's. It robs you of your life much before you breathe your last. One dies a thousand deaths every moment without even coming to know of it.

Alzheimer's is a kind of dementia. To put it in simple non-medical terms, dementia is a progressive degeneration of brain. This degeneration causes one to lose memory and reduces one's mental ability. Nearly 70% of dementia sufferers suffer from the Alzheimer's.

Diagnosis of Alzheimer's is not a difficult process and after a series of test, a physician could easily conclude whether or not one is suffering from the Alzheimer's. However, the disease affects different people differently and while some might live for a few years after the diagnosis, the others could survive for even twenty years or more. The number of people diagnosed in the US alone stands at around 4 million.

The causes of the disease are, by and large, unknown though how it affects human beings has been thoroughly researched. The cure, however, is yet to be developed.

There have been several rumors about the cure of the disease. So, you need to understand that Premarin hormone therapy does not prevent the Alzheimer's, neither could ginkgo (a herb) reduce one's chances of falling prey to it. Though gingko might reduce the chances to some extent but the research on its effects is still on, and all conclusions drawn are premature.

Those who have been diagnosed with the disease are advised to keep themselves as active as possible because activity keeps the brain cells from degenerating fast. Social interaction has also been found to help retard the progress of the disease.

The Alzheimer's is indeed a terrible disease, but it has to be dealt with because there is nothing more one could do. So, if your loved one has been diagnosed with it, it is not only him or her who has to fight. You, too, have to stand by him or her throughout.