Essay on Alzheimer's Disease

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.

Alzheimer’s disease in many ways is not yet defined. It is a progressive disease afflicting between 5 and 15 percent of people over 65. Additionally, it is not restricted to the elderly, reportedly having

The first of the two types of the disease, Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, is much more rare than its counterpart. Less than five percent of all people living with Alzheimer’s disease have this version. The demographic which it affects is between the ages of thirty and sixty. As this is a genetic disease, this version of

With the growing number of people becoming diagnosed, and experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, we must begin to take precautions and somehow attempt to gain knowledge of how the disease can be better treated, and ultimately prevented.

Alzheimer 's disease is a highly progressive and irreversible brain disorder that impairs cognitive function and eventually annihilates brain cells. “It is characterized by the development of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, the loss of connections between nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain, and the death of these nerve cells” (nia). There is currently no cure for this retrogressive cognitive disease. Alzheimer’s disease affects approximately “4.5 million people in the Unites States and 8 million people worldwide” (pathopta). Studies show that one in eight people over the age of 65 will suffer from Alzheimer’s. Physicians and researchers alike believe that there are numerous individuals with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s whom go undiagnosed and untreated. This neurological disorder is not a natural age-related response, and those whom present with any signs and symptoms should be seen by their physician promptly. Even though Alzheimer’s affects a massive number of the

Ageing is the most common risk factor for alzheimer disease. Most individuals that are diagnosed with this condition are 65 or older. The likelihood of being conspired by this disease doubles about every five years

Alzheimer’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 microtubules, form a skeleton that maintains the shape of the nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s disease, the tau proteins break loose from their normal location and form tangles. Without the support of these molecules, nerve cells collapse and die. As normal

This is an national issue in the United States.This disease can affect children because “the increasing number of people 65 and older in the U.S, particularly

Despite being known for over one hundred years the cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is still not completely understood. This terminal disease affects about 800,000 people in the UK and is expected to greatly increase in number of cases in the coming years. AD has proven to be an elusive disease to understand; yet it is more important than ever to continue researching AD in attempt to find a cure for the many people and family members that this disease affects.

     Alzheimer’s disease usually begins gradually, causing a person to forget recent events and to have difficulty performing familiar tasks. How rapidly the disease advances varies from person to person.

Alzheimer 's disease is a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. At first, someone with Alzheimer 's disease may notice mild confusion and difficulty remembering. Eventually, people with the disease may even forget important people in their lives and undergo dramatic personality changes. Alzheimer 's disease is the most common cause of dementia — a group of brain disorders that cause the loss of intellectual and social skills. In Alzheimer 's disease, the brain cells degenerate and die, causing a steady decline in memory and mental function. Current Alzheimer 's disease medications and management strategies may temporarily improve symptoms. This can sometimes help people with Alzheimer 's disease maximize function and maintain independence for a little while longer. But because there 's no cure for Alzheimer 's disease, it 's important to seek supportive services and tap into your support network as early as possible. At first, increasing forgetfulness or mild confusion may be the only symptoms of Alzheimer 's disease that you notice. But over time, the disease robs you of more of your memory, especially recent memories. The rate at which symptoms worsen varies from person to person. Brain changes associated with Alzheimer 's disease lead to growing trouble with: Memory

(As you can see, it is important to understand what Alzheimer’s Disease is, So now, let me give you some safety tips on caring for the Alzheimer’s patient)

On the first day of class, it was proposed that "Brain=Behavior," implying that not only all actions and emotions can be explained by neuronal activity, but also the very sense of self which is so important to many of us. This latter implication was met with considerable resistance. Surely there must be more to an individual's personality and Self than a bunch of patterns of activity across neurons. Through the research I have done for this paper, I have discovered that disorders such as Alzheimer's disease add a new twist to the debate surrounding the origin of the Self. My purpose here is to provide an overview of Alzheimer's disease, including its neurobiological basis, the differences between early and late

Often times this disease has been called “the long good-bye” because the symptoms progress so gradually. Most often the disease shows itself in the elderly around the age of about eighty, and is rarely seen in people under the age of sixty-five. One of the characteristics of this disease that makes it so hard for scientists to find a cure, are the numerous factors that present themselves in different patients. It seems as if no two cases of Alzheimer’s can be exactly alike.

Dementia is a syndrome of gradual onset and continuing decline of higher cognitive functioning (Alderman and Daly, 2005, p.1745). The term dementia is derived from Latin word demens (meaning without mind). Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a most common form of dementia and a neurodegenerative disease with more than 25 million cases worldwide. The disease was first described by Alios Alzheimer a German physician in 1906 and published it in 1907 under the title “A characteristic serious disease of the cerebral cortex” (Cipriani, Dolciotti, Picchi & Bonuccelli, 2009, p.277). This paper is going to reflect the pathophysiology, incidence, etiology, clinical manifestations, prognosis and a brief overview of the medical management of Alzheimer’s disease. According to U.S Census Bureau the total number of people with AD is projected to be 13.8 million by 2050 with 7.0 million people with 85 or older (AACN , 2013, p.17). According to Shampo, Kyle, Steensma the first known case was a 51 year old female who had progressive memory loss and she died after 5 years (2013). The implications of pharmacological treatment and physical therapy in a patient with AD will also be discussed in this paper.