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.
Alzheimer's disease is a neurological disorder which kills the brain cells, causing memory loss and cognitive decline. This leads to severe psychological impairments which changes how people think, behave and other complications such as paranoia, disorientation and unprovoked aggression. These psychological impairments reduce people’s functional ability and therefore reduce their quality of life.
Dementia of the Alzheimer’s type was first recorded in 1901, where German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer began a study on a fifty-year old woman he called Auguste D. He meticulously examined her actions and routines on a daily basis, and concluded that what was previously thought of as old-age senility, was actually a completely independent disorder, in and of itself. Alois recorded Auguste D’s for five years, until her death in 1906. The results of his study provided the structural framework for scientists and doctors to further the research of this disorder and create diagnostic criteria, which would later set Alzheimer’s disease apart from all other forms of cognitive impairments.
In the modern age scientists and researchers are constantly discovering new diseases and disorders that affect the human body. With technology improving and new equipment being introduced it enables scientists to gain more knowledge about the disorders than ever before. During the last century a German physician by the name of Alois Alzheimer linked a patient’s memory loss to her brain autopsy which displayed signs of brain shrinkage. His discovery is now known today as Alzheimer’s disease; which is a form of dementia and is a psychological disease that causes the brain to deteriorate. In today’s day and age, there are still many unanswered questions about Alzheimer’s disease (Crider, A., Goethals, G., Kavanough, R., & Solomon, P. 1989). A few known facts are that Alzheimer’s disease is it is most commonly found in elderly humans, with majority of carriers being age 60 or older. It is important to note that Alzheimer’s disease is not an old person’s disease and that it can also be found in adults of younger ages. Furthermore, there are two forms of Alzheimer’s disease. The two forms are called Early-onset which is found in adults ages 30-59 and Late-Onset which is more common and occurs in adults ages 60 and up. Alzheimer’s disease may not be curable, however with the right information it can be easy to conquer (Alzheimer and Dementia Resources).
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is the lost of thinking, remembering and reasoning so bad it screws up ability to do daily functions and eventually resolves in death. Dr. Alois Alzheimer’s first discovered the disease in 1906. Since then research has developed a deeper understanding of the changes in the brain. Warning sign’s of Alzheimer's are memory loss that affects home and job skills, problem in speaking, poor judgment, and difficulty in learning. The last stage of Alzheimer's disease is when you’re unable to take care of yourself. The disease can last from 3 to 20 years from the time of onset of symptoms. Alzheimer’s disease affects as many as 4 million Americans. It can affect almost any age but still is more common in the ederly. As ageing population continues to increase, so does the disease. Today, 3% of the people ages 65 to 75 have alzheimer’s, 10% of those aged 75 to 85 have alzheimer’s and half the age 85 may have it to. Without a new cure it is estimated that alzheimers will affect over 14 million people by 2050. The elderly are the most infected with the disease and its still spreading. Other disease in common with Alzheimer’s is multi-infract dementia, Huntington’s disease, Pick’s disease, and Parkinson disease. People wonder if Alzheimer is genetic “meaning runs in families” the answer is the evidence isn't clear. Doctors and Physicians say if you have a by blood family member with Alzheimer's there's a slightly greater chance of getting or having the Alzheimer's disease. Many wonder if memory loss is a natural part of aging. The answer is yes and no, everyone has forgotten where he or she parked their car or the name of an acquaintance a one time or another. And many healthy individuals are less able to remember certain kinds of information as they get older. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are much more severe than simple memory lapses. This chart will kinda help you understand the difference.
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.
As stated by actor Seth Rogen in an interview he gave to CNN, “I think until you see it [Alzheimer’s] first hand, it’s kind of hard to conceive how brutal it is.” These are the words of a man; who aside from being a comedian, actor, producer, director, screenwriter, and voice actor has had the chance to have someone really close to him suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. In the interview he describes how heartbreaking it is to see his mother in law with this disease and the matter of a fact is that it is very difficult when you hear stories like these, it is then that you realize the importance of cherishing every memory with those parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. that are already in the age perfect for Alzheimer’s to kick in and change their wholes lives drastically. To take a better grasp of what is Alzheimer’s disease; in the next few pages, this research paper will provide you with information that is key to help you better understand this disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common form of Dementia. Over the past ten years, there is increase in number of people with Alzheimer’s disease and is expected to increase significantly in coming decades.1 Alzheimer’s disease describes as lapses of memory, personality and sense of self, changes of mood easily and progressive decline in the ability to learn, to communicate and to reason. Suffers from Alzheimer’s disease greatly influent the quality of one’s life.2 The early detection of Alzheimer’s disease is difficult because Alzheimer’s disease starts in a very subtle way and the symptoms of early stage Alzheimer’s disease are same to several conditions which are lack of vitamin, depression and thyroid problems.3 What went wrong with the disease state? What is the drug treatment for Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a degenerative brain disease that involves dysfunctions and loss of nerve cells in central nervous system, was discovered by a German physician, Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1907. As it is accounted for 50 to 75% of all cases of dementia, it is the most common form of dementia (Blennow et al., 2006) and it is known as a progressive neuropsychiatric disorder which involves memory loss, mood swing and loss of intellectual and social skills (Lee et al., 2010) and sufferer will progress through seven-stages of Alzheimer but with different rate (Reisberg et al., 2003).
This is the most common form of Alzheimer's disease, accounting for about 90% of cases, and usually occurs after age 65. Finally, Familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD) is the form of Alzheimer’s that is known to be completely inherited. It is evidenced in affected families were two or more generations have had Alzheimer’s. FAD is extremely rare, however, accounting for 1% of all recorded Alzheimer’s cases. FAD is early-onset as well, occurring at the years of 40 to 50, but it isn’t entirely uncommon to see those diagnosed with it to be in their 30s. Mutations in chromosomes 1, 14 or 21 occur in 50 percent of next-generation offspring.