Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer’s disease Holly Salyards Cincinnati State Technical & Community College Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disease which slowly destroys thinking and memory skills. These changes are severe enough to interfere with day to day life. This irreversible disease is the most common cause of dementia amongst the elderly, with an appearance of first symptoms after age 60. In 1906, Dr. Alois Alzheimer, noticed some changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms were comprised of memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable behavior.

Dementia is most commonly seen in those who are over the age of 60, and the older a person gets the higher their risk of developing dementia becomes. Since dementia is such wide array of illnesses there are many different diagnostic symptoms that can point to dementia. Symptoms can vary greatly but they are mostly on the track of inability to use different brain functions. Different brain functions that can be impaired when looking at dementia are memory, language, ability to focus, reasoning, judgment, or visual perception. People who suffer from dementia also struggle with short term memory loss.

The man to discover Alzheimer’s disease was Alois Alzheimer; he discovered it after a patient with an abnormal mental illness passed. Alzheimer’s, also known as AD, is named after Alois Alzheimer and is a continuing loss of brain function that affects thinking skills, such as forming or retrieving memories and judgment. I think that it took him so long to discover that it was a new disease because Alzheimer’s can be so subtle that only a drastic change in the view of the brain can show the outcome of the cells. This disease affects older people however it is not a normal part of aging. AD does not have a cure yet, scientists are however trying to find the root of the disease and control its destructive powers.

It is said that memory declines as people age, and this can be just a natural part of life. However, in many cases as people grow older, they develop a mental disorder known as Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is a disease that causes problems with memory, thinking, and overall behavior, and progressively becomes a bigger problem. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and is a very common disease in people over the age of 65. This terminal disease puts tremendous stress on the victim and the victim’s family.

Alzheimer's disease advances in stages, progressing from mild absentmindedness and cognitive impairment to widespread loss of mental abilities. In advanced Alzheimer's, people become dependent on others for every aspect of their care. The most common cause of death among Alzheimer's patients is infection. Even though scientists are still learning about Alzheimer¡¦s, there is no cure. Alzheimer's disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German doctor.

Dementia and Its Connection with Memory Loss Dementia affects many elderly people in today’s society. One of the most commonly known forms of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease. This condition is a progressive disease caused by damage to brain cells that leads to impaired memory. The more the disease progresses, the worse the memory becomes. It is also a degenerative disease, causing irreversible damage to brain cells.

Alzheimer cannot be cured, it cannot be slowed, but there are ways to keep the effected person at a certain level of comfort, independence and safety that is relevant to their survival, emotionally and physically. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive illness that destroys certain functions of the brain such as memory and thinking abilities. Alzheimer’s usually affects those who are 60 years and older but has been known to occur sooner, it is thought of as an elderly disease. Being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s is not the same as being diagnosed with cancer or other physically sickening diseases because it takes many years and several stages to reach its full intent. There are four stages of the Alzheimer’s disease ranging from simple forgetfulness in the beginning stages to being completely dependent on a caregiver to fulfill even the most basic needs, these symptoms are a result of amyloid plaques and neuro fibrillary tangles in the brain.

Description Alzheimer’s is a disease which makes people lose memory. Alzheimer’s can also be called dementia which is the same. Alzheimer makes people lose their memory and causes the loss of thinking skills of the nerves in a person’s brain to die. As the nerve cells in your brain keep dying, Alzheimer's can and will slowly get worse and worse over time. This disease doesn’t only make you lose your memory but it also affects thinking, language, behavior, and the tasks of daily life.

This also causes appetite to decline and then there is the loss of control over bowel movements. The disease will progress with many ending up not even recognizing their own children, much less being able to eat or bath or do simple tasks that they normally would not even have to think about. Lack of acetylcholine is the main cause for loss of memory. In most people throughout the aging process, acetylcholine degenerates over time at a normal rate. In people affected by Alzheimer’s, acetylcholine degenerates at more than double the rate of people unaffected with this disease.

Visualize waking up one day and completely forgetting where you are, or how you got there. This forgetfulness could be a sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, causes slow progressive problems in the brain. “Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases.” (Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia) Alzheimer’s affects certain tasks of the brain such as remembrance, decision, and day-to-day functions of the body. It predominantly affects adults older than sixty and ultimately destroys a person’s ability to focus, function, and care for themselves.