Living with Alzheimer's Disease

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Alzheimer’s disease slowly steals a person’s dignity and erases precious memories. The “Alzheimer’s Disease Guide”, found on WebMD explains that tasks become more difficult to do often leading to confusion and behavior changes. The article further explains the progression of the disease also brings hardship to family and friends (1). To best cope with Alzheimer’s we must better understand the disease. Alzheimer’s disease can often be seen during autopsies of the brain. In her book, Can’t Remember what I Forgot, Sue Halpern explains that Alois Alzheimer first discovered the tangles of protein on the brain of a 56 year old woman suspected of having Alzheimer’s (115-116). In the book A Dignified Life, Virginia Bell and David Troxel notes this discovery led to many advances in the medical field once the findings and diagnosis were published (Bell, Troxel 31). Plaques made of Beta-amyloid were also present on the brain during the autopsy preformed by Alois Alzheime (Halpern 116). According to the book Living with Alzheimer’s, The Department of Health and Human Services states as many as 500,000 Americans develop early onset of the disease (21). Further noting the age range of early onset is between the forty’s and fifty’s, however in some cases as young as the twenty’s. The book goes on to say the reasoning for early onset is currently unknown and not thought to be hereditary (Living 21). A USA Today article notes that “the effects of Alzheimer’s on all its victims can be devastating, but younger people are dealing with it during the middle of active lives” (Fackelmann 2A). The article goes on to explain the various symptoms and outlines the prognosis expected with early onset; course of the disease continues to be the s... ... middle of paper ... ...n Medical Association 12 May 2010:7 Living With Alzheimer's: Resouces Guide for Families and Caregivers. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, 2009. "The New Face of Alzheimer's." U.S. News & world report 11 Dec. 2006: 70+. Sydney, Danny Rose. "Why Omega-3 Is Key to Beating Alzheimers." Advertiser, The [Adelaide, Australia] 03 Feb. 2010: 32 Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 28 June 2010. . Victoroff, Jeffrey Ivan. Saving Your Brain: The Revolutionary Plan to Boost Brain Power, Improve Memory, and Protect Yourself Against Aging and Alzheimer's. New York: Bantam, 2002. Viña, Jose, and Ana Lloret. "Why Women Have More Alzheimer's Disease Than Men: Gender and Mitochondrial Toxicity of Amyloid-β Peptide." Journal of Alzheimer's Disease 20.(2010): 527-533. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 30 June 2010.

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