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A new study published in the journal "Molecular Psychiatry" has suggested that Alzheimer\'s may arise from an infectious process. To get a perspective, other neurological infectious diseases include a human form of mad cow. Researchers took the tissue from the brain of an Alzheimer's patient and injected it into the brains of mice and saw changes that are indicative of Alzheimer's. Sporadic Alzheimer's affects more than 5 million Americans and accounts for over 90% of all patients with the disease. Today it in completely irreversible and it inflicts people who may or may not have a family history of the disease according to the National Emergency Medicine Association. In other words, it is not clear if genetics predisposes people to the disease. Unfortunately not much is really known about the how's and why's of of Alzheimer's disease.

According to Alz.org, Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. Typically symptoms start to appear around 60 years of age. Sufferers have memory loss and lose fundamental intellectual abilities that interfere with their everyday lives. In most cases where dementia is present, Alzheimer's will account for about 50% to 80% of these cases. There is no known cure and limited treatment for the disease. With this latest research claiming that this disease may be infectious, alternative treatment can be viable. As of late, Alzheimer's has been and is still thought to be genetic. The good news is that Alzheimer's is aggressively being tackled with biomedical research because it is the 6th leading cause of death.

If Alzheimer's really is an infectious disease then researchers can take a different approach in order to identify the disease early on. Currently early diagnoses is not something the medical industry has conquered. Today Alzheimer's is diagnosed by noticing a patients mental decline. If there was a way to detect the disease before symptoms begin, experts believe it can be treated to prevent it from advancing or even to stop the onset of the disease. There are medications today that are believed to slow down the progression of Alzheimer's, however it really is unclear because no one case of the disease is exactly alike. There are also medications used to help alter the compulsive behavioral patterns that patients suffer from as well. Fortunately there are many resources and money focused specifically around Alzheimer's. There is also a plethora of help and support groups to aid families with dealing with the inflicted.