The following are the most important diseases or complications that may be contributed to by Alzheimer’s disease:
Mouth, esophagus (food pipe), stomach, and intestines (K00-K67; K90-K93).
- Constipation (constipation) – due to degenerative processes of the enteric nervous system (ENS; “abdominal brain”):
- The myenteric plexus (Auerbach’s plexus) between the annular and longitudinal muscle layers.
- The submucosal plexus (Meissner’s plexus) in the submucosa (tissue layer between the mucosa and the muscle layer)
This, in addition to intestinal motility (“ability of the intestine to move), regulates baseline gastrointestinal tone, secretion and absorption, which can lead to constipation refractory to therapy (“unresponsive to therapy”).
Psyche – Nervous System (F00-F99; G00-G99).
- Aggression
- Insomnia (sleep disorders)
- Panic
- Sundown syndrome: about 20% of Alzheimer’s patients show increasing confusion, disorientation, anxiety, irritation and aggression in the evening when the sun goes down.
Symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings not classified elsewhere (R00-R99).
- Marked gait disturbances to complete physical deterioration.
- Incontinence – inability to hold urine and/or stool.
Further
- Total need for care
- Silencing
Prognostic factors
- Sleep deprivation → increased release of the tauproteins from neurons, the deposition of which is responsible for cell death in AD.
