"Alzheimer's disease is a chronic neuro-degenerative condition in which the brain cells actually deteriorate. It's a type of dementia where the patients have memory loss and it affects the daily functions," said Dr. Kore Liow, Castle Medical Center.
There are a number of reasons why people get Alzheimer's - but the primary cause is simply - age.
"As people get older, they have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. People over 65 years old, the risk is about one in 8 people. People over 85 years old, the risk is about one in two," said Dr. Liow.
As we said, there are a variety of things that contribute to Alzheimer's - including heredity.
"The other majority of genetic Alzheimer's is actually what we call sporadic or late onset Alzheimer's disease. Most of this is probably multi-factorial...probably some genetics, some environmental and some life-style," said Dr. Liow.
How do you know the difference between forgetfulness and Alzheimer's?
"It's okay to have a few senior moments, but the difference comes - if you can't forget where you park your car, you can still hit the button and find out where the car is. It's not a big problem. But if you forget how to drive home, that's a big problem," said Dr. Liow.
As we said, this time of year can be stressful on families dealing with a relative who has Alzheimer's. But there are things that can be done.
"They can actually help with wrapping gifts, they can sing carols, they can help decorate things, there's a lot of family traditions that a person with Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment can even help with," said Elizabeth Stevenson, Alzheimers Association.
