Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease

Introduction:

Imagine waking up and not being able to remember where you put your keys. This is a likely scenario for anyone of us. People forget things; that's just the way life is. Now imagine waking up one morning and not knowing who is next to you. Memory loss is the first main symptom for a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Though this situation may seem a bit drastic, this is the degree of memory loss one can feel when plagued with Alzheimer's.

General Information:

According to Anne Rodgers, Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible progressive brain disease that slowly deteriorates memory and cognitive thinking skills. Alzheimer's disease can eventually destroy the ability to carry out the simplest tasks such as showering, and even dressing oneself (Rodgers Unraveling 4). "Alzheimer's disease begins in the etorhinal cortex...it then spreads to the hippocampus, an area essential for memory. Affected areas begin to shrink" (Rodgers Unraveling 25). As NIHSeniorHealth.gov explains, The average length of time from onset of symptoms (to death) is thought to be about four to eight years (NIHSeniorHealth). The website also claims that more females have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease than males. This could be true in part that women have longer life spans than men (NIHSeniorHealth). They also, however, explain that the only definite way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease is through a brain autopsy. With where technology is at today, this is the only way to see the plaques and tangles in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease (NIHSeniorHealth). As explained by Dr. Jeffrey Kingman, M.D., chief of neurology, Alzheimer's disease affects your ability to think, calculate, solve problems, and do all kinds of abstract thinking (Alzheimer's disease: New Hope). Alzheimer's disease "Disrupts each of the three processes that keep neurons healthy: communication, metabolism, and repair" (Rodgers Unraveling 20). The specific disruption of Alzheimer's disease will eventually kill certain nerve cells in the brain, causing it to lose connections with other nerve cells and ultimately die (Rodgers Unraveling 20).

How Alzheimer's Disease Was Discovered:

Alzheimer's disease has been known about for nearly a century. In 1906 a German doctor, named Dr. Alois Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman that had died of what the locals had called an "unusual mental illness." Dr. Alzheimer, upon autopsy, noticed that the brain had many tangles and clumps. He also noticed that the size of the brain was smaller than most. Today, the tangles and clumps are considered the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. The tangled bundles of neurofibers are now referred to as neurofibulary tangles, and the clumps are known as amyloid plaques (NIHSeniorHealth). To this day, no scientist, or doctor in the world knows what exactly causes Alzheimer's disease, nor do they know the changes of aging become so much more destructive in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Dementia - An Overview:

As Anne Rodgers reports, Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia among people 65 and over. Dementia has been termed as the "loss of memory, judgment, and language, to such an extent that it interferes with a person's daily life and activities" (Rodgers Unraveling 6). The three main causes for primary degenerative dementia are Alzheimer's disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, and the Parkinsonian Dementia's (Fitten 7). According to L.J. Fitten, one of the main authors of the book Alzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer's disease is credited for 60 to 70 percent of all dementias (Fitten 8). Lenore Powell adds that "Alzheimer's disease is the forth most prevalent cause of death - after heart disease, cancer, and stroke" (Powell 13).

How Many People Are Affected By Alzheimer's Disease:

Alzheimer's disease affects 4.5 million people in the United States alone (Alzheimer's disease: A new hope). According to Alzheimer's disease: A new hope through understanding, "Eight percent of people over 65 years of age have Alzheimer's disease, and the prevalence doubles for every five years of age" (Alzheimer's disease: A new hope). That would mean that nearly half of all people over the age of 85 years would have Alzheimer's disease (Alzheimer's disease: A new hope).

Warning Signs:

Scientists and doctors alike agree that there are ten warning signs of Alzheimer's disease. They are as follows: memory loss, difficulty performing familiar tasks, problems with language, disorientation to time and place, poor, or decreased judgment, problems with abstract thinking, persistently misplacing things, abrupt changes in mood or behavior, changes in personality, and a loss of initiative (Alzheimer's disease: A new hope). Memory loss, the first visible sign of Alzheimer's disease, is a sign of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Many scientists agree that MCI is often an initial transitional phase between normal brain aging, and Alzheimer's disease (Rodgers Unraveling 25). Anne Rodgers explains that there are three main stages of Alzheimer's disease, mild, moderate, and severe (Rodgers Unraveling 26). In mild Alzheimer's disease, the person may or may not already be diagnosed. One main characteristic of this stage is having trouble making sense of the world around oneself (Rodgers Unraveling 27). In moderate Alzheimer's disease, damages start spreading to other parts of the cerebral cortex. This site of the brain controls language, reasoning, conscious thought, and sensory processing (Rodgers Unraveling 27). Rodgers claims that in moderate Alzheimer's disease, behavior problems are most prevalent. The patient needs more intense supervision from this point and beyond (Rodgers Unraveling 27). In the final stage of Alzheimer's disease, the severe stage, plaques and tangles are widespread in the brain. At this point, a patient can no longer recognize loved ones. Many common symptoms of this stage also include: weight loss, groaning and moaning, increased sleep, lack of bladder control, along with seizures and difficulty swallowing (Rodgers: Unraveling 28). It is in the severe stage of Alzheimer's disease when the patient usually dies. A common myth about Alzheimer's disease is that it isn't fatal. The loss of cells in the brain leads to failure of essential systems of the body (Alzheimer's