Living with Alzheimer's Disease
Most people dream of living a regular, normal everyday life and watching their children
grow up and have families of their own, but for some people these dreams and all their
memories from their past can be erased and lost in an ageless disease that affects more
then four million Americans today. Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive disease that varies
from person to person and robs its victims of their past and future. Alzheimer’s Disease is
known as the “Great Eraser” and turns everyday normal people into helpless and lifeless
individuals who are left being cared for by a caregiver such as family or friends because
they are unable to take care of themselves. Not only does this disease affect the person
who has the disease but also takes a great toll on the family members who have to live
with the victims. Alzheimer’s leaves family members feeling helpless, sad, confused and
angry because they feel that there is more that they could do or that they could have done
with them in the past when they were more healthier and were able to do more things.
Today more then 100,000 Americans die each year from Alzheimer’s Disease. The number
of deaths keep rising and this is leaving families of the victims looking for answers to
questions that not even scientists or doctors can figure out about the disease, like why this
disease is caused and how this disease can be cured.
Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive and irreversible brain disorder that destroys
mental and physical functioning in human beings and eventually leads to death, not
because of the disease itself but because the disease eventually causes the body to
shutdown the parts a body needs to keep a person alive. Alzheimer’s Disease is the fourth
leading cause of deaths in adults. Alzheimer’s Disease is a neurological disease that takes
away a person’s memory of their past and future. Alzheimer’s Disease eventually causes a
person to not be able to take care of themselves anymore. The people who develop
Alzheimer’s Disease often experience a wide variety and mixture of emotions, they are
usually confused, frustrated, angry, scared and feel depression. The victims feel this way
because they lose their social and interest abilities that interfere with everyday functions.
(Alzheimer’s Association)
Alzheimer’s Disease worsens with the advancing of age, although there is no
evidence that it is caused by the aging process. The average life expectancy of a person
· genetics: occasionally the disease has a tendency to run in certain families (inherited or genetic predisposition), but this is not common.
What is Alzheimer ? Is Alzheimer 's more difficult for the patient or for the patient’s siblings?
illness could be seen on a sufferer maybe society would not “just get over it” greatly
...s exist as an inherited disease in some families. The majority of case studies show that the patients affected have no family history of the disease.
There are 4 main parts of the brain. Each part of the brain is responsible for different systems in our body.
Until the causes of disorders are found it will always be a guess on how
Like the world around us the medical field is always changing. It is always pushing forward, trying to understand mysteries of the human body that have boggled researchers for decades. What confuses scientists more, are the organisms or conditions that create these abnormalities that can send the human body into a downward spiral. Disease is something that has affected human civilization since the dawn of time. It can either be chronic or acute, but in either case it has the potential to bring havoc to the human body systems that can lead to devastating consequences. Generally there are two main types of diseases, ones caused by invading pathogens and those which are hereditary. One hereditary disease that can be particularly tragic is cystic fibrosis.
Alzheimer’s is a disease that many people have heard of, but few really know much about. Imagine not being able to remember your loved ones and friends or even how to do simple tasks like dressing yourself and brushing your hair. Now imagine having to dress your mother, who rarely remembers you anymore. This is the reality of life for millions of older people afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and the families that care for them. Alzheimer’s causes cognitive function to decrease gradually overtime. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia - affecting around 5 million Americans (alz.org). It is the most fatal disease affecting older people and needs to be taken seriously.
Alzhiemer’s disease is the most common form of dementia . It is a disease in which nerve cells in the brain die. As nerve cells die it’s difficult for the brain's signals to be transmitted properly. The death of the nerve cells occurs gradually over a period of years. The gradual loss of brain function seems to be due to two main forms of nerve damage, nerve cells develop tangles (neurofibrillary tangles) and protein deposits known as beta-amyloid plaques build up in the brain. The first sign of Alzheimers is memory impairment. Recent memory is lost first and as time goes on, attention is lost, simple calculations become impossible, and ordinary daily activities become difficult, and the patient feels bewildered and frustrated. Symptoms tend to worsen at night which is known as the sundown effect. Patients have dramatic mood swings such as outbursts of anger, bouts of fearfulness, and periods of lethargy. The patient becomes increasingly disoriented and because of disorientation they may wander off and become lost. Alzheimer’s also results in physical problems like an odd gait, or a loss of coordination. Over the course of time patients lose physical and communicative abilities entirely. Alzheimer's disease can run its course from onset to death in as few as four years, or it may play out over a period of as long as 20 years. On average people suffer with Alzheimer's disease for about nine years. Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. One person out of eight age 65 and over has the disease.
In its earliest stages, Alzheimer disease slowly robs patients of their "higher brain functions," including short-term memory and the ability to learn new information. As the disease progresses, patients gradually begin to experience confusion, have trouble making routine decisions, and eventually lose the ability to perform even simple self-care tasks, such as bathing and eating. The disease may also produce changes in personality, behavior, and mood, such as depression, apathy, and withdrawal or baseless fears and aggressive behavior.
Alzheimer's disease is ending the brains and lives of our country's people, stealing them from memory, the ability to reason, and affecting their emotions and behavior. Alzheimer's disease weakens the brain. The longer we live the greater the risk: one out of every two Americans aged 85 and older and one out of every 10 aged 65 and older are afflicted with the disease. It affects two groups: those with the disease and the loved ones who care for them. Alzheimer's diseases changes the way people view the world.
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks and destroys brain nerve cells or neurons eventually killing the cells. It is the most common form of dementia (around 50-60% of all cases of dementia). it affects 1 in 20 people over the age of 65 and 1 in 1000 people under the age of 65. Although it affects more people over the age of 65 it doesn’t mean that age is the cause of the disease. Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease suffer from memory loss, thinking difficulty, loss of language skills and changes in behaviour. No one is immune to this disease. Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr Alois Alzheimer’s. In 1906 he noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who died from an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included loss of memory, language problems and unpredictable behaviour. After her death he examined her brain and found abnormal protein fragments called plagues and tangles. These protein fragments are the two major features of Alzheimer’s disease. The third is the loss of connection between nerve cells and the brain.
Age, he/she usually takes their life and alters it to a stage where there is no
homicidal, or if they are unable to care for themselves. Suicide risk becomes high if
person was to learn the different things about a disease, then they would have a better chance of