Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder, which damages and yet destroys brain cells, leading to changes in thinking, memory loss, behavioral problems, and other brain functions. Alzheimer’s is an inherited or genetic disease, meaning that it is a medical disease, which runs within the family, caused by the changes in the genes that are passed from one generation to another. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, a widespread term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities, severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases, such as vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, mixed dementia and frontotemporal dementia. Alzheimer is not a normal part of aging, despite the fact that the greatest known risk factor is increasing age and the majority of people with Alzheimer’s are 65 and older. However, Alzheimer’s is not a disease of old age, up to five percent of people with this disease have early onset Alzheimer’s, which frequently appears when someone is in the age of 40 or 50. Results suggest that the risk of Alzheimer's disease by the age of 90 in first degree relatives is 39%. By the age of 90, this risk is 2.8 times greater than the corresponding risk of 14% among relatives of age and sex matched control subjects. It is important to consider that around…… of the family members inherit an Alzheimer’s disease. Women are twice as likely to get Alzheimer disease in a family because their brains have a fundamentally different make-up than of the boy’s brain . New studies show that female hormones could be the reason women are more at risk. Alzheimer’s is a continuous disease, where dementia symptoms constantly worsen over a number of years as ...
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...style of living by diagnosing DNA testing for predictive testing and regulate a person’s chance of passing or developing a genetic disorder. The importance of genetic testing is featured when finding out if you have inherited an Alzheimer’s condition in order for you to take precautions, which will definitely alter changes in your life, such as consuming medications which will reduce the chance of passing the mutated gene to your offspring, causing you to possess a totally healthy baby through a pre ignition of the genetic diagnosed. On the other hand, genetic testing is very expensive and promote a variety of emotional difficulties such as depression, anger and anxiety. Prior in carrying genetic testing, you have to be aware of the limitations and benefits you will undertake, in order to proceed with a successful Alzheimer disease genetic testing.
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The disease called Alzheimer’s is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States (Weiner, 1987). It is estimated that the elderly population will double between now and 2030. During this period, the number of elderly will grow by an average of 2.8% annually (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). By 2050, the number of people with Alzheimer’s is estimated to range from 11.3 million to 16 million (Alzheimer’s Association, 2005). These startling numbers should prompt an examination into one of the leading causes of death among this group of people. Understanding what Alzheimer’s is and the known causes of the disease are a good starting point. For those who have aging family members, knowing the risk factors and warning signs of Alzheimer’s can be beneficial to both the patient and his family. Finally, once the patient has been diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s, a plan for treatment as well as providing the family and caregivers with a support system can help ease those involved through a very challenging, heartbreaking time.
What is Alzheimer ? Is Alzheimer 's more difficult for the patient or for the patient’s siblings?
Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed before age 65, although rare, and is caused by a mutation in 3 known genes. About 5 percent of those who are under 65 and possess the ailment have AD in their family history. Given that the symptoms of AD are caused by plaque in the brain, causing loss of nerve cells that help the body communicate with the brain, mutations to these genes; amyloid precursor protein, presenilin 1, and presenilin 2 cause a excessive production of certain proteins (primarily a B-42 form of amyloid protein), and therefore spark an excessive growth of plaque cells which are toxic to the neurons of the brain. For those cases of Alzheimer’s that occur after age 65, a genetic mutation has yet to be proven, although some may be linked, to the fact that a difference may cause an increased chance of developing the ailment. Whatever the case may be for patients over 65 years old, the disease and its symptoms are caused by neurofibrillary tangles of almyloid plaques. It is impossible for someone to test positive for Alzheimer’s Disease, because the only way to determine an affirmative case i...
Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that affects cognitive function in the elderly population. It is an irreversible, progressive disease involving decline in memory and other intellectual abilities (Spremo-Potparevic, Živkovic, Plecas-Solarovic & Bajic, 2011). According to the National Institute of Health, the majority of people who have Alzheimer’s are age 65 and older (NIH, 2012). Around two-thirds of Americans who have Alzheimer’s are women. The reason for this may be that women have a longer lifespan than men (NIH, 2012).
...hed and streamlined to allow for earlier diagnosis. In the case of tertiary prevention, the pharmaceutical companies have a huge financial incentive to create a cure for Alzheimer’s but that is not enough. More government funded research should be dedicated towards finding methods to delay or cure Alzheimer’s disease. The baby boomer generation has already entered their 60’s. As people live longer, as a result of new treatments for common killers such as heart disease and cancer, the chances that they will succumb to Alzheimer’s increases. Failing to find preventative or curative measures will be costly. On a personal level, Alzheimer’s disease slowly attacks cognitive function-the higher thought processes; individuals degenerate into infantile dependents. The cost of caring for increasing numbers of such dependents will be a burden on both family and society.
of diagnosis is about 80 years old (Johnson, 1989). The incidence is about the same for all races, but women are more likely than men to develop the disease, because they live longer. The second factor is heredity. Family history plays a role in about forty percent of people with early onset of Alzheimer’s (Johnson, 1989). If your parents or a sibling developed the disease, you are more likely to, as well. But there are cases of families with several people who have had this disease and other members are not affected. These two factors are the only proven factors, but environmental research is being done to help with a possible protective effect for the disease. As of now, more research is needed to confirm any be...
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Everyday a new disease or treatment is being discovered. There are always many questions left unanswered and many answers that are still trying to be figured out. Doctors, along with medical treatment centers and every day people are trying to figure out what Alzheimer’s disease really is or what it is about. Alzheimer’s disease has many common symptoms and effects in both men and women. The common, but confused name for Alzheimer’s disease is Dementia. People commonly confuse these two names because of the effects or symptoms that relate back to the name. Not many people know exactly what Alzheimer’s disease is or what causes it. But there are significant warning signs that lead people to conclude that is it a sad uncontrollable disease.
Increasing age, being female, mental retardation, and genetics are well-established risk factors of the disease. Age is the main factor of risk, because people from the ages to 75-84 are at 19% risk and people 85 and older are about 47% at risk. At all ages, women have a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than men. By age 93 women's ...
Cummings, Jeffrey L., Cole, Greg. “Alzheimer Disease.” Journal of the American Medical Association. May 2002: 287-18. Health Source. EBSCOhost. Utica College Lib. 15 Apr 2005. .
Every era has its disease; the one debilitating killer that each individual grows up to fear and detest more than War or poverty or depression. In the sixteenth century the Black Plague swept Europe, and later Syphilis destroyed much of the New World. More recently Polio was what each mother feared would over take her child. However, each of these diseases had its own time and place, and each has all but disappeared by cure or public awareness. Unfortunately, as each disease passes away a new killer moves up through the ranks to strike fear in humanity, young and old. Currently, the United Statesí population is aging, with people over eighty-five becoming the nations fastest growing age group">(2).It should come as no surprise that the disease of the new millennium should be a disease of the elderly: Alzheimerís Disease. Effecting half the Americans over the age of eighty Alzheimerís Disease has left its victims in a world of confused dementia, and the rest of the world in a panic to find a cure">(2).
Twenty-eight individuals agreed to participate in this longitudinal clinical pathological study of gaining in Alzheimer’s disease. They agreed to annual clinical evaluations as well as to donate their brain to the research once they had died. The average age of the participants was 85 and the range was from 66 to 103. The annual clinical evaluation was to assess what group the participant belonged to. Obviously there was a specific criterion to check for if a person fell under the early Alzheimer’s category. There was no official criterion for those with mild cognitive impairment so those who fell under that category w...
In this day and age, it seems as though almost everyone has experience a loved one taken away form a very serious disease known as Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is unbelievably devastating for everyone affected by it. This disease is causing major economical problems such as less occupancy in the nursing homes, and hospitals due to the rising population of elderly men and women being diagnosed with it everyday. Because there is not yet a cure for this disease and the percent of the population being diagnosed keeps rapidly rising, more time and money needs to go towards Alzheimer’s research.
Alzheimer's Disease Introduction to Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain. It was first described by the German neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915). in 1905. This disease worsens with advancing age, although there is no evidence. that it is caused by the aging process.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive, terminal, degenerative brain disease. It is the fourth leading cause of death in adults and currently affects over four million people in the United States. This number is expected to increase over the next several years as the baby boomers age, until it reaches fourteen million by the year 2025.