Alzheimer's Disease Argumentative Essay

Alzheimer's 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 today's society for everyone. There are rapid advancements being made in the fight against this disease now more than ever, and the purpose of this essay is to educate the public on the background as well as the new discoveries. There are many new drugs that are being tested and studied every day which slow down, and may even halt the progress of the disease.

There are about 45 million people worldwide affected by this dreadful disease (Crous-Bou). However, this isn’t cancer or heart disease. This is Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s the disease that has no sympathy towards anyone, not even my beloved grandmother. My grandmother, who I call Tita, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and has been dealing with symptoms for a few years now. Whenever she’s living with us (she lives with both her daughters at different times), she always forgets the simplest of things, such as her granddaughter’s name or even what day of the week it is. When these questions are asked, I can’t help but feel pity towards my Tita. My mother had told me about my Tita having this disease, but what surprised me more was the lack of treatments and preventions that also came with it. There should be more effective research completed on the preventions and treatments of Alzheimer’s Disease in order to get closer to a final cure for the patients.

It slowly takes over your mind, catapulting its victims into darkness. Profound forgetfulness and involuntary physical violence. There is no worse fear then forgetting loved ones, having them take care of you every day, but for some reason, it's hard to remember who they are and what the mean to you. Most likely if you ask any healthy senior citizen what they fear most as they go into old age, you'll hear Alzheimer’s and Dementia. To help prevent Alzheimer's and Dementia primal lifestyle is crucial to a healthy brain function. The American Medical Association (AMA) should educate young and healthy individuals as well as those with predisposed Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) on how to prevent these cognitive impairments. Educating individuals on how to avoid, progression and future treatments of AD and DLB is a step in the right direction, to stop and one day fully eradicate AD and DLB.

The symptoms of Alzheimer’s are extremely detrimental to the individual whom it affects, as the disease attacks the brain cells and their connections. As the illness progresses, many

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 to the extent it is known today.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, accounting for 65–70% of all cases (Jellinger, Janetzky, Attems, & Kienzl, 2008). The other dementias are of the Parkinson 's group, the fronto-temporal group and the vascular group. The total worldwide yearly costs for the treatment and care of patients suffering from dementia are estimated to be around 250 billion US dollars. The lifetime risk for AD between the ages of 65 and 100 is 33% for men and 45% for women with an annual increase of 1–2% in the seventh decade to almost 60% in the 10th decade with doubling every 5 years (Jellinger et al., 2008). AD is incurable, and thus represents a major public health problem. AD represents a challenge to humanity due to its relatively recent discovery, progressive nature of the illness, and complex diagnosis.

get it, but most cases are the only ones in a family. Some patients who develop

Alzheimer’s disease is nothing we can control. Unfortunately, this disease is a progressive, devastating brain illness that causes cognitive decline, including memory, language and thinking problems; which also happens to have no current cure even after all the years of trying to find one. “It is unknown what causes Alzheimer’s disease but older age and family history appear to play a role.” (Shu, 2011) Not only do age and family history play a factor in Alzheimer’s Disease, changes to the immune system can also play a part. However, throughout the years of our knowledge of Alzheimer’s, there have been many claims that the influenza vaccination (flu shot) increases the risk of getting this disease. This has caused a great deal of worry in many people, mostly elders. They’re not sure if they should get the vaccine, or if their loved ones with dementia should continue to get the vaccination. However, before this claim was made, numerous people were getting the influenza

In the United States there are approximately 5.4 million people living with Alzheimer’s. Every sixty-nine seconds a person is diagnosed. This is an ongoing issue, and unless something is done, sixteen million people will be affected by 2050 (Latest).

Alzheimer’s disease is a complex illness that affects the brain tissue directly and undergoes gradual memory and behavioral changes which makes it difficult to diagnose. It is known to be the most common form of dementia and is irreversible. Over four million older Americans have Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to triple in the next twenty years as more people live into their eighties and nineties. (Johnson, 1989). There is still no cure for Alzheimer’s but throughout the past few years a lot of progress has been made.

Alzheimer’s and other dementias are impacting our communities on every level—that is why it is important to work together. Our Chapter’s quest to reach individuals living with the disease, family caregivers, members of the community and health care professionals continues to grow each year as we expand our reach through the hard work of our staff, volunteers and community partners. As we highlight the work of our programs and services throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire this year, we also encourage you to learn more by visiting us at alz.org/MANH.

Imagine waking up in a strange place, not knowing where you are. You don’t know who your are. You forgot how to to walk, or even take a sip of water. A strange woman claiming to be your daughter comes in and explains over and over again who she is. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that targets the brain of elderly people. Most of the time it results in death. Alzheimer's is the third leading cause of death among people over 50 in the United States. But when someone is in the severe and final stage of alzheimer’s, is miserable, and the result is inevitably death, is it ethically right to stop treatment? The answer is yes, would you want to sit and watch a loved one lose everything that makes them happy and have no recognition of you or

Over four million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (1). One of those is my grandfather. He has suffered from Alzheimer’s for almost 8 years. I have watched my grandfather slowly decline and forget things such as

“Imagine you are in a very, very, very slow moving car crash, nothing seems to be happening there is the occasional bang, crunch, a screw pops out spins out across the dash board, like you’re in Apollo 13. However the radio is still playing the heat is on and it does not seem that bad except the certain knowledge that you will definitely be going head first through the wind screen.”(Pratchett, 2010).This is from a documentary Shaking hands with death, by Sir Terry Pratchett an author diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Who wished to end his life before Alzheimer’s took over his body; Pratchett was a proponent for euthanasia and believed man should be allowed to live and die however he wishes. According to Pratchett (Pratchett, 2010).He believed that

     The average life span of a person getting Alzheimer’s is between the ages of 45 and 60. Millions of people are plagued by this heartbreaking disease. Although heredity does not play an obvious role, if one’s parents have it, there is a great chance of the disease appearing in the child during their elderly years. The risk for getting the disease increases with age and is seen more commonly in elderly females. There are a number of theories for the actual cause of Alzheimer’s disease, but at this