system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How does Alzheimer's Disease lead to death?

I understand (very basically) the pathophysiology of the disease with the amyloid plaques developing, but what happens when the disease progress that can be the underlying cause of death?  Is memory essential to being alive (in strictly a scientific definition of the word)
gpt
There are secondary problems that arise in Alzheimer's that you wouldn't immediately think of, like dysphagia, which often lead to death.  The loss of the ability to swallow (this is what dysphagia is, in case you didn't recognize that word) without choking leads to them not being able to eat, and accidentally inhaling food/etc. on a pretty regular basis.  Pneumonia, secondary to dysphagia, is how most with Alzheimer's end up dying.

Rarer deaths come from dementia itself, like wandering into traffic or getting lost in their backyard or even their bathroom, and forgetting to drink or eat for days till they pass.  

Memory itself isn't essential to living.