The Devastating Effects of Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer's disease is a disorder that causes the gradual loss of brain cells that impairs memory, thinking and behavior and leads to death . Alzheimer's disease is not a normal factor in aging. There is currently no cure to stop the progression of AD. There are currently several drugs available on the market for this disease. The drugs theoretically help improve or stabilize the cognitive abilities of people with the disease. Medication can help delay some of the more severe symptoms associated with AD. This delay of symptoms will help the patient remain in better mental and physical health and delay the final stages of AD. If a patient with AD could delay the onset of end-stage symptoms, their quality of life would improve significantly. According to the 2000 US Census Bureau, an estimated 4.5 million Americans have AD. 1 in 10 Americans said they have a family member with the disease, and 1 in 3 knows someone with the disease. Lifespan averages 8 years, but some can survive 3 to 20 years, the Alzheimer's Association says. According to the global classification system, there are seven stages of Alzheimer's disease. The first state is the absence of cognitive impairment. There are no obvious memory problems for a healthcare worker. The second stage is a very mild cognitive decline. There are some memory lapses, but they are obvious to a healthcare professional or to friends and colleagues. The third stage is early-stage Alzheimer's. Word finding problems are evident in family and colleagues, performance at work or in social settings is impaired, reading and failure to retain information, loss of valuables, decline in ability to plan or organize are symptoms of this phase. The fourth stage is mild Alzheimer's with decreased knowledge of events, inability to count backwards from 100 to 7, and impaired memory of personal history. The individual suffering from AD will be subdued and withdrawn. The fifth stage is moderate Alzheimer's disease. The patient does not know his address, telephone number, name of the school attended. They will get confused about the day, date or season. They usually do not require assistance with eating or using the bathroom. The sixth stage is moderately severe AD. The person will lose awareness of their surroundings and recent experiences and will forget the names of their spouse or caregiver.