Alzheimer 's Disease And Its Effects

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disorder, in which one progressively loses memory, thinking skills, and the ability to perform activities of daily living. Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia also called senile dementia, and two thirds of dementia cases are from Alzheimer’s disease (ZZZZ). This disease usually effects the older generation, early 60s to late 60’s. According to the National Institute of Aging, over 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and it is ranked the sixth leading cause of death (ZZZZ). This disease is caused by changes in the brain. Researchers noted these changes were a buildup of abnormal plaques called, amyloid plaques, a lost connection between nerve cells and the brain, and also fibers in the brain become tangled. Also this is a genetic disease, and environmental factors also play a role in the onset of this disease. These characteristics are said to cause the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (ZZZ). Alzheimer’s disease has many onset symptoms. The most common symptoms of this disease are memory loss and confusion. Examples of this is asking the same question and not realizing it, and not remembering where things are. These symptoms progressively worsen to the person forgetting who their family members are, and eventually not being able to function on their own.

There are many different forms of dementia and each has its own cause. Some of the main type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia affecting 50%-70% of dementia patients (Alzheimer's australia, 2005). This is a degenerative illness which attacks the brain, this is achieved buy tangles which are in the middle of shrunken brain cells and plaques which eventually cause the brain cells to die meaning information can no longer be recalled or assimilated. There are also other types of dementia which include vascular dementia which is caused by circulation of the blood to the brain, Parkinson’s disease which is a disorder of the

“Dementia is characterized by chronic, global, non-reversible deterioration in memory, executive function, and personality. Speech and motor functions may also be impaired” (Butler and Radhakrishnan, 2011). As defined by Butler and Radharkrishnan, dementia is a disease that affects a person for their whole life. In the next part of this paper, I’m going to talk about the dementia and the effects it has on a person live whether it is with the symptoms, overall experience with it, and what exactly it does to the body. Dementia isn’t a fun disease to have or deal with. According to the World of Health Organization, over 35 million people have dementia (Robitaille, Garcia, & McIntosh, 2015). I’m mainly going to talk about the specific type of dementia Alzheimer’s. “Alzheimer’s disease is defined as a type of dementia characterized by an onset and slow deterioration, and involves impairments in memory, speech, personality, and executive function”(Butler and Radharkrishnan, 2011). Memory loss isn’t just the only thing that happens with dementia. They also experience impairments in language, communication, focus, and reasoning (Ellis, 2013).

Alzheimer’s is a disease where neurotransmitters, acetylcholine, or the brain’s chemicals break connections with other nerve cells causing the cells to die off, the effects of this are irreversible. The loss of these cells result in loss of thinking and language skills, unpredictable behavioral changes and eventually the inability to carry out the simplest tasks. Although there is no known cause for Alzheimer’s, researchers have found a genetic link. Alzheimer’s first symptoms usually appear when a person is between forty and fifty years of age. Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that initiates in the brain, drastically decreasing the quality of life as well as life expectancy in millions of people around the world.

Taking classes, learning how to play different instruments, and learning languages are just some examples of ways that you can lower your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease. It is a progressive brain disease that causes a gradual loss of memory and high level brain functioning. Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer. Dr. Alzheimer was a German neuropathologist.. In 1906 he discovered this disease when he noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had recently died of a mental illness. Before her death, she experienced language problems, memory loss, and strange behavior. After her death, when Dr. Alzheimer examined her brain, he found peculiar clumps and tangles of bundled up fibers. These findings ultimately helped

Relevancy Material: The information I will give you will help you notice the signs and symptoms of an Alzheimer’s patient.

To further look at the root or the causes of dementia, it all comes down to the neuron. There are billions of neurons within the brain, and each of them receives messages through the dendrites or stems of the neuron. As the message is received, it travels through the axon of the neuron to the terminal button (Feldman, 2010). Every neuron is interconnected by the synapse, a microscopic gap between neurons, which enables the message to continue traveling throughout the brain. There are proteins located in and on the neuron that is secreted by enzymes. A large protein called APP is broken down into protein beta-amyloid and Tau

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a form of dementia that affects 5 million people in the United States alone. One out of every three Seniors die of the disease just in the United States; 80 million suffering world wide making AD the 6th largest cause of death (climax) (Humpel 1; Alzheimer’s Association). AD is the most common dementia; affecting the neuroplasticity of the brain resulting in physical shrinking of the tissues; thus causing neurodegeneration. Diagnosis of the disease is complex, costly and risky. (tricolon) Behaviors are categorized and most commonly constructed in a list of stages. Treatments have been unsuccessful in curing the disease. Ramon y Cajal proclaimed in 1928 that “once development has ended, the founts of growth and regeneration of the axons and dendrites dried up irrevocably. In the adult centers the nerve paths are soothing fixed, ended and immutable. Everything must die, nothing may be regenerated. It is for the science of the future to change, if possible, this harsh decree” (Teter 402).

Dementia is a general term that is used to describe a disease or disorder that affects brain functioning by a decline in metal ability that can progress enough to interfere with daily life. There are different forms of dementia, such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, Vascular, and Frontotemporal, but the number one type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in nine Americans older than the age of 65 currently have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible neurodegenerative brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills.

Alzheimer’s disease, also known as AD is often insidious on set, it can take months up to years to go from a mild to severe impairment. (Mayeux, 2010) The disease is irreversible and has no cure. “The disease affects 500,000 Canadians, 71,000 of those are under the age of 65” (VanDenBroek, 2013). AD affects the person by impacting their neurological function, their cognition and their behaviour.

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease that attacks and ultimately destroys brain cells. Without these cells functioning properly, every aspect of a person’s life is adversely affected until they are no longer able to care for themselves. Despite years of research and the large amount of money that has gone into the study of this disease and its effects, there is much that remains a mystery in regards to Alzheimer’s disease. While great strides have been made towards a cause and ultimately a cure, there is much work to be done before Alzheimer’s disease will no longer be a threat.

Alzheimer’s disease is “a debilitating neurological illness characterised by significant impairment of cognition, especially in new learning and executive functions” (Simm, Jamieson, Ong, Garner & Kinsella, 2015, pg. 501). Its impact is not only felt by the individual, but also by family and friends who care for the diagnosed. It causes a change in the way many older adults age, adding more complications and a level of fear for their future, which has ultimately changed the way society views and handles aging. Social workers can play an immense role in helping ease this transition for those suffering, providing support, education, and resources for the individual and their family. Alzheimer’s can be extremely frightening for families dealing

Alzheimer’s disease is a mental disorder that catches up to many while in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain. It is the most common cause of premature senility.

BEFORE AD Alzheimer’s isn’t new to us. The name just changed. Before Alzheimer’s was dementia. That has been around for quite some time. For the bizarre behavior of humans with dementia, people began to do spiritual “treatment” to people. Putting the patient in asylums. Back then people did not worry about the disease because they would only live for about 30 years (Kelly,2008). In the eighteenth century, a French doctor named Mr. Pinel believed that mental illnesses had a cure. The term dementia was first used by him. People claimed he changed the way he thought about finding a cure. He thought doctors should change people with the illness by interacting with them. However, in the nineteenth century, Alzheimer believed that mental illnesses were caused because of brain illnesses instead of spiritual reasons (Shamy,2003) Alzheimer’s had a patient that had forgotten her last name as he told her to write it down. At that exact moment he knew there was something terribly wrong. She had symptoms of what we now call AD. On April 9, 1906 that patient had died. He then studied her brain under a microscope to find that she had tangles in her brain. The name AD was given to patients over time. Named after Alzheimer becomes he was the first to make the connections.

Although some kinds of memory loss are very normal in the aging process, the changes that are caused by aging are not that extreme enough to conflict with it. A number of certain diseases and conditions can cause dementia. These conditions and diseases consist of Parkinson’s disease, strokes, brain tumors, blood clots and Multiple Sclerosis, but the most common disease to cause this is Alzheimer’s disease (Crystal, 2009).