Essay on Alzheimers Disease - 1236 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, is a disease that afflicts more than 4 million older citizens in the US. Alzheimers is a degenerative neurological disorder that leads to impairments in memory, thinking and reasoning. AD is the most common cause of dementia in older people, and mainly affects people 65 and over. Within the last few years, there have been drugs that can temporarily treat the patients, but it remains a form of dementia that is irreversible. The disease is very hard on both the person who receives the diagnosis and on his or her family and friends. Aside from medical help, those affected by the diagnosis may want to consider counseling and support groups to help them cope. In its†¦show more content†¦In addition, having any close relative who develops Alzheimers increases risk. By age 80, people with Alzheimers disease in both parents had a 54% risk, 1.5 times the risk of Alzheimers in people with just one affected parent, and 5 times the risk of people with two unaffected parents. People with Down syndrome or certain forms of mental retardation also have a higher risk for the disease, while individuals who have completed an education beyond 9th grade may have some protection against the illness. In the first stage of Alzheimer’s, a patient is increasingly and persistently forgetful, and may forget recent events or directions to familiar places. They have mild personality changes where they may become paranoid, very confused, or fearful. Unexplainable mood or behavior changes can occur. They often have a loss of judgment and problems with abstract thinking. They frequently misplace items, sometimes in odd places. They may forget the reason for entering a room, while later forgetting the way home Patients also experience aphasia, or difficulties finding the right word. As the disease progresses to moderate Alzheimers disease, the person has noticeable memory loss, have difficulty performing familiar tasks, frequently use words inappropriately and sentences can become incomprehensible. Patients will often suffer from apraxia, when they begin to lose the ability to perform normal tasks ofShow MoreRelatedAlzheimers Disease945 Words   |  4 PagesAlzheimer’s Diseas e Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive neurological disease; it often attacks the brain tissues causing memory loss of one’s identity and regular behaviors. Statistics indicates that the rate of predicted people to get Alzheimer’s will increase briskly as time goes on. There are currently no cures for such disastrous disease, but there are currently approved treatments available that can help people within the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Once the disease is too far alongRead MoreAlzheimers Disease3170 Words   |  13 PagesThe Role of Caregiving to Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease Megan Zann April 27, 2012 Health Psychology Dr. Ackerman Introduction It is normal to periodically forget your keys or a homework assignment, because you generally remember these things later. However, individuals who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease may forget things more often, but they do not remember them again. The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease has dramatically increased because people are living longer. This is a result ofRead MoreEssay on Alzheimers Disease1503 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that gets worse over time. It leads to nerve cell death, and tissue loss throughout the brain. Over time, the brain shrinks dramatically, affecting nearly all its functions. 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This research explainsRead MoreAlzheimer’s Disease Essay2544 Words   |  11 PagesAlzheimer’s disease defined: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive, terminal, degenerative brain disease. It is the fourth leading cause of death in adults and currently affects over four million people in the United States. This number is expected to increase over the next several years as the baby boomers age, until it reaches fourteen million by the year 2025. Alzheimer disease generally occurs in people over seventy five years of age; however it does strike people in their forties, fiftiesRead MoreEssay on Alzheimers Disease2405 Words   |  10 PagesAlzheimers Disease is a condition that affects 50% of the population over the age of eighty five, which equals four million Americans each year. It is becoming an important and high-profile issue in todays society for everyone. 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Well, I work in a nursing home with the elderly with this diseaseRead MoreAlzheimers Disease Essay2168 Words   |  9 PagesAlzheimer’s disease or AD is an incurable disorder of the brain that results in loss of normal brain structure and function. In an AD brain, normal brain tissue is slowly replaced by structures called plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The plaques represent a naturally occurring sticky protein called beta amyloid and in an Alzheimer’s brain, sufferer’s tend to accumulate too much of this protein. Neurofibrillary tangles represent collapsed tau proteins which, in a normal brain along with microtubulesRead MoreEssay on Alzheimers Disease 512 Words   |  3 Pagesmajor medical advancements like the world has never seen before, some diseases still continue t o plague the human race and confuse even some of the brightest scientists today. Unfortunately, Alzheimer Disease (AD) is one of them and it affects between 2.4 and 4.5 million people in America. Alzheimer’s is usually diagnosed in people over the age of 65, but in rarer cases people as young as 16 have it. Since it is a degenerative disease, patients develop it with few symptoms at an earlier stage, but thenRead More Alzheimer’s Disease Essay1176 Words   |  5 PagesAlzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s Disease is a disease of the future. With the growing aged population, this disease, which affects primarily the elderly, will become of increasing relevance to the medical profession. Also, the high frequency of Alzheimer’s, and the high cost in labor, money, and material of caring for its victims shall put considerable burden on the society as a whole. Here, however, these issues are not going to be debated. Instead the pathology of Alzheimer’s will be reviewed