Synopsis Still Alice is a book that puts you in the shoes of a middle aged woman named Alice Howard. Throughout the novel you follow the progression of Alice’s early onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice is a psychology professor at Harvard University where she met her husband while they were studying, she has been teaching linguistics there for over twenty years. She is known as one of the best in her profession and travels all over the nation to give talks about her studies at conferences. Her husband John is a research scientist at Harvard as well, researching cancer. They have three children together Anna, Tom, and Lydia all three are thriving in their respective careers just like their parents. When Alice turned fifty she started to experience some odd symptoms like forgetting where she was or what she was doing when she entered a room. She did not worry at all, thinking she is just experiencing some …show more content…
When Alice started this journey she was only turning fifty years old. That is young, especially to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This shows the disease does not care how old you are. While Alice is on vacation around six months into her diagnosis she has her first run in with incontinence. She was lost in her own vacation home, she kept opening doors to closets and bedrooms but never a bathroom. She could not make it and ended up urinating herself in front of her husband. This shows us the disease does not care who you are. Alice had went with her family to a play her daughter was performing in. At the end of the show her daughter Lydia came up to her when she left the stage. Alice had no idea that she was her own daughter, she thought she was just the character and asked her how long she would be in town for. This shows us that this disease does not care what you do it will eventually consume you, your thoughts, memories and
Hamilton’s psychological perspective of aging seems to be norm for her age. Despite the fact she had two cerebral vascular accidents (strokes), her long-term and short-term memories seemed to be intact. Mrs. Hamilton appropriately answered questions and we reminisced the time when we met for the first time as well as the times we ran into each other at the Arcadia senior center’s educational lectures. Mrs. Hamilton stated she has been experiencing forgetfulness since the strokes and difficulty finding words (aphasia). However, she was able to remember where she wrote my contact number and called me numerous times after our meeting. Mrs. Hamilton was a bookkeeper for her husband’s business and always had outstanding knowledge about investment, finance and businesses aspect of discussion. This is reflective of the Crystallized intelligence which is the information and skills that people have learned through experiences. (Quadagno, 2013, pg.
Lisa Genova, the author of Still Alice, a heartbreaking book about a 50-year-old woman's sudden diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. She is a member of the Dementia Advocacy, Support Network International and Dementia USA and is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's Association. Genova's work with Alzheimer's patients has given her an understanding of the disorder and its affect not only on the patient, but on their friends and family as well (Simon and Schuster, n.d.).
Still Alice is a movie about Alice Howland, a professor at Columbia University majoring in linguistics. During one of Alice’s lectures she forgot a word and during a jog she does everyday, she became lost. Alice went to her doctor who diagnosed her with early onset Familial Alzheimer’s Disease. The director has used Sounds, Costumes and Cinematography that is used in the movie to develop the character of Alice Howland.
performance that involves, but is not limited to, a loss in at least 2 of the
Alzheimer’s disease is a complex illness that affects the brain tissue directly and undergoes gradual memory and behavioral changes which makes it difficult to diagnose. It is known to be the most common form of dementia and is irreversible. Over four million older Americans have Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to triple in the next twenty years as more people live into their eighties and nineties. (Johnson, 1989). There is still no cure for Alzheimer’s but throughout the past few years a lot of progress has been made.
Alzheimer’s disease is the leading neurodegenerative disease in elderly adults. It affects more than 30 million people in the world (1). There are a few major markers behind Alzheimer’s disease. These include amyloid β plaque, oxidative stress, and inflammation. A potential target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease are the processes involved in the synthesis, transport, and function of retinoids.
As rare as it is to get Early-Onset Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Alice Howland was among the 5% diagnosed with it. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior”. Clearly, that is what Alice had and was noticeable throughout the movie. If someone were to compare two characters in the movie, could they not compare Alice at the beginning of her diagnosis and at the end of it? When looking back at Alice in the beginning of the movie one can see her colorful and smart personality shine through, whereas at the end of the movie it is evident that she can no longer remember words or dress herself, which clearly shows her transition between two completely different
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia which is a brain disorder that impairs mental functioning. Dementia attacks the part of the brain which controls memory, language, and thought. It makes everyday tasks like remembering to brushing your teeth, or to pay your bills next to impossible to do, which is why so many people who are diagnosed with this disease are in complete care. This disease has different phases, the first being slight forgetfulness and then the persons emotions may heighten as well as language impairment, violent outbursts, loss of bladder control and from there it keeps getting worse until complete dysfunction of the brain occurs and eventually death, which most of the time is the result of infection.
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.
How would a person feel if they couldn’t put sentences together? Alice Howland, a fifty-year-old woman, who forgets a word during a speech and becomes lost during a presentation at a college campus, Alice's doctor diagnoses her with early onset Alzheimer's disease. “Along the way, Alice struggles to not only to fight the inner decay, but to make the most of her remaining time to find the love and peace to make simply living worthwhile” (Chisholm). While this is the plot for a popular fictional film, the seriousness of the topic is real to many elders and family members. Alzheimer’s is a common form of dementia, caused by changes in the brain, generally starts in the late adulthood, characterized by confusion, emotional instability, and progressive
Alzheimer’s disease, named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, is a disease that is on the rise in America and the rest of the world. People should learn as much as they want about this disease, because as you age, your chances of becoming an Alzheimer’s Disease, or AD, patient increases. It is estimated that approximately 3 percent of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have the illness, and more than half of all people over age 85 have the ailment.
This theory views the family as a system containing interrelated and interacting parts. Whether something is affecting a family member positively or negatively, all family members are affected by these factors (Mitrani,Feaster, McCabe, Czaja, Szapocznik, 2004). In this case, the Howland family must cope with the vast changes in the cognitive function of their mother Alice. Throughout the film, we see how the impact of Alzheimer’s disease affects the family as a whole. Lydia who lives in California must move back home so that she can take care of her mother while her father is away at his new job. This is an example of how Alice’s Alzheimer’s diagnoses does not only affect her, but also affects Lydia’s life. Another example of how the disease affects the family system is when John and Alice are about to go for a run; Alice advises John that first she must use the bathroom before they part. Sadly Alice does not remember where the bathroom is in the house and she urinates in her
In this paper I will discuss the issue of stigma regarding Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia in older adults, which was depicted in the movie ‘Still Alice’. This theme became most prominent to me in the scene in which Alice wished that she had cancer instead of AD. Alice compared AD to cancer, expressing that the general public had created awareness to support those living and fighting cancer, while she felt there was little support for individuals with AD. Confronted with her illness and the stigma of AD, Alice demonstrates her struggle to find meaning and hope in her life. This inspired me to focus on the current stigma that exists about dementia and AD, and how it may be mitigated in my practice towards becoming a Registered Nurse (RN) in order to provide quality nursing care.
Hello my name is Nick and I am giving my speech on Alzheimer’s Disease. I was thinking of what I could do for a speech. Then I thought I wanted to inform people on something that little know about. Then it hit me. Alzheimer’s Disease it has affected my life so much and I know so much about it. So I am going to tell you how it has affected my life in more ways than one. Before I start I want you to imagine something. Look around you know everyone right? All these faces you see practically see everyday take all that you know about them and forget it. Can you do it? I can’t. So try to imagine now that it could happen to you years down the road and the disease gets so bad you cant remember your kids, your mother, or even your family. You probably are thinking right now, it will not happen to me. Well that is what my grandfather said about 6 years ago and now he cant even remember my name.
Alice in Wonderland belongs to the nonsense genre, and even if most of what happens to Alice is quite illogical, the main character is not. “The Alice books are, above all, about growing up” (Kincaid, page 93); indeed, Alice starts her journey as a scared little girl, however, at the end of what we discover to be just a dream, she has entered the adolescence phase with a new way to approach the mentally exhausting and queer Wonderland. It is important to consider the whole story when analyzing the growth of the character, because the meaning of an event or a sentence is more likely to mean what it truly looks like rather than an explanation regarding subconscious and Freudian interpretations. Morton states “that the books should possess any unity of purpose seems on the surface unlikely” (Morton, page 509), but it’s better to consider the disconnected narrative and the main character separately, since the girl doesn’t belong to Wonderland, which is, as Morton says, with no intrinsic unity. Whereas, there are a few key turning points where it is possible to see how Alice is changing, something that is visible throughout her journey. Carroll wants to tell the story of a girl who has to become braver in order to contend with challenges like the pool made by her own tears, or assertive characters, like the Queen.