A few days ago my grandmother passed away after battling with Alzheimer’s disease for more than ten years. During the last couple of years she was alive I barely ever visited her, and I never understood why she was always in bed, and whenever I went to go see her she never remembered who I was. I feel that because of this disease, I lost my grandmother a long time ago; hopefully by the end of this paper I will have a better understanding about the disease that took her away, years ago. According to the Alzheimer’s Association (2015), Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia, was first discovered by Alois Alzheimer in 1906; in which it accounts for …show more content…
A common observation in the brain of people who have died from Alzheimer’s is that plaques and tangles make from protein fragments are present. (A Century of Alzheimer’s Disease) Alzheimer’s is the fourth largest cause of death in America; it usually affects people over the age of sixty, but there have been cases with younger people being affected ("Alzheimer 's Disease & Dementia | Alzheimer 's Association," 2015). The only way to detect Alzheimer’s is in the brain after death; but, it can be sense it by carefully examining a person’s physical and mental status, and by talking to the person’s friends and relatives about their background and common personality. If detected early, the results can be very beneficial and can help the person with the disease fight it better, and understand ways of trying to fight it. Some of the basic symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease include, memory loss, difficulties in speech, disorientation to time and place, poor or decreases judgment, difficulties in performing familiar tasks, misplacing things, changes in mood or behavior, and a loss of initiative. There are two types of symptoms, cognitive and behavioral. Behavioral symptoms include agitation, anxiety, delusions, depression, hallucinations, insomnia, and wandering. While cognitive symptoms include memory loss, disorientation, confusion, and problems with reasoning and thinking. (American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias)
“There are three brain irregularities that are the symbols of the Alzheimer’s disease process: loss of nerve cell connections, tangles, and plaques.”
Alzheimer’s is a disease in the brain that affects a person’s memory, thinking, and behavior. It is the most common form of dementia and is common in adults older than 65. More than five million Americans are being affected by Alzheimer’s at this moment. Alzheimer’s comes in three stages; early, middle, and advanced. The disease is caused by the shrinking of the brain due to many risk factors and genetics.
There are so many signs and symptoms that correlate to the Alzheimer's disease, which include but are not limited to: having a worsened ability to take in and remember new information, impairments to reasoning and changes in personal behavior. Usually those who have Alzheimer's will have a hard time taking in and remembering new information, meaning they will ask repetitive questions or start conversations that were previously mentioned. A lot of times they will also misplace their personal belongings and may even forget important appointments or their grand-children's baseball game. When you have the Alzheimer's disease you may also find out that you get lost very easily on a commonly traveled route.
Alzheimer's is a very common disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. Working in the Healthcare Profession will allow one to see many different cases of Alzheimer and how it affects everyone differently. Having several family members who have been diagnosed with this disease allowed me to be eager on researching this topic. Alzheimer’s disease usually affects people around the age of 60 and older. It has been said that this disease cannot be cured. Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia are often mistaken as the same, but through my research I found out that they were completely different.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most well-known type of dementia, and its prevalence continues to expand. In fact, by 2050 researcher suggests that the prevalence of AD will increase by 225 percent, thereby affecting roughly 13.8 million U.S citizen. In short, researchers and scientists have less than 34 years to slow, stop or end this destructive mental health disorder. The current state of Alzheimer's disease is equally disturbing when considering, “in the United States, one in nine people aged 65 and older has AD (two-thirds of whom are women), and one person develops AD every 67 seconds” (Cummings, Isaacson, Schmitt, & Velting, 2015, para. 3). There are two forms of AD known as sporadic and familial, the latter has a genetic factor; thus,
In general terms, Alzheimer is a word that is used to discuss the condition where an individual undergoes the decline in their mental ability to an extent where they start forgetting about things. In a layman’s language, it involves times and occasions when the patient loses their memory and also face the difficulty to carry the basic steps during the daily routines, like carrying out solving or thinking about general concerns in life. In all conditions and types of the issue dementia, Alzheimer’s in dementia is known as the most common condition that leads to memory loss (Dennis, 2005).
Cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s disease occurs when synapses, which transmit information from one neuron to another, become interrupted and communication ceases (7). The result is death of the nerve cell within the brain, also referred to as synaptic failure (6). Synaptic failure takes place when amyloid plaque and neurofibrillary tangles develop (7). Amyloid plaque develops from amyloid beta proteins, which are released by enzymes from the amyloid precursor protein that is located on the surface of the neuron (7). The amyloid beta proteins are normally cleared within the body once they are released however, in
A major symptom of Alzheimer 's Disease includes the loss of abstract thinking. In conclusion, the person will lose the ability to solve problems and draw conclusions. Disorientation is also a major symptom which includes when one can become lost on a familiar street nut do not know how to get back home because he or she forgot where they lived. The lack of initiative takes place where person may become unmotivated or passive. Not pursuing their usual activities is a sign from this. Language problems occur where the person often forgets simple everyday vocabulary. Other symptoms include when one misplaces their items such as wallets and phones and at times puts them in odd places. Another one is mood swings where person can have rapid mood swings for no
Alzheimer’s disease is incurable, but there are many stages, warning signs, and risk factors that can serve as detection devices for those who have older adults in their lives. One of the most common early signs of this form of dementia is memory loss. While it is normal for people to occasionally forget things, such as appointments and names, people with Alzheimer’s tend to forget these things more often and are not able to recall them even after a period of time. Other signs that signify a possible case of Alzheimer’s is difficulty performing familiar tasks (cooking, brushing teeth), problems with language (using odd words, failing to remember correct words), disorientation (forgetting where one lives, not knowing how he got to a certain place), problems with abstract thinking (forgetting what numbers represent), misplacing items (putting a hair brush in the freezer), moodiness, personality changes (confusion, suspicion, fearfulness), and loss of initiative
Alzheimer’s and dementia are often thought of as an old age disease. Although the most commons risk factor is age but it is not the only one. Most majority of individuals do develop symptoms as elderly, but individuals that develop onset symptoms at a younger age, below 65 are said to develop early onset dementia (Lambert, M. A., Bickel, H., Prince, M., Fratiglioni, L., Von Strauss, E., Frydecka, D., & ... Reynish, E. L., 2014). Many researchers have conducted studies on the impact of cognitive disorders, such as dementia along with Alzhiemer’s, on the affects of the nonprofessional caregiver. Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t just affect the person but the affected person’s family and friends are affected as well.
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is characterized by gradual cognitive decline that beings with the inability to create recent memories or thoughts, which then proceeds to effect on all intellectual functions (Mayeux & Stern, 2012). AD affects an estimated 5.5 million people in the United States, and 24 million people worldwide (Mayeux & Stern, 2012). The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease is rising in line with the aging population, therefore; AD is most common in older patients around the ages of 60-85 (Mayeux & Stern, 2012). Alzheimer’s Disease is the sixth most common cause of death ("Latest Alzheimer 's Facts and Figures", 2015). Therefore, in the United States, one individual will develop the disease in every 67 seconds ("Latest Alzheimer 's Facts and Figures", 2015).
Alzheimer’s is a common disease. More than three million cases of Alzheimer’s come up each year. People of age sixty years and older are largely affected, with rare genetic changes connected to the early start of Alzheimer's
Dementia is a disease that affects mental capabilities in which memory loss is one of the key features of this disease. Memory loss creates difficulty in completing every day tasks. Most people who suffer from the disease need assistance with their activities of daily living. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60% to 70% of cases of dementia. It is a long lasting neurodegenerative (progressive damage of the neurological nerve cells) disease that usually starts gradually and gets worse over time.
In the earliest stages, before symptoms can be detected, plaques and tangles begin to form in areas in the brain including learning, memory, thinking and planning. Plaques are microscopic clumps of protein fragments called beta-amyloid that builds up between nerve cells. Dead and dying nerve cells contain tangles, which are twisted microscopic strands of the protein tau. There isn’t any found diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, but these are some of the main reasons we know are causing learning and communication
Alzheimer 's is a disease in the brain that destroys memory and other functions. Symptoms of this disease are confusion,difficulty