Alzheimer's Disease Prevalence Essay

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.

In times past many people thought that memory loss was a normal occurrence for elderly people. This thinking was major reason for why Alzheimer’s disease was not caught until very later in the stages. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. After heart disease, cancer, and strokes, Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of death in adults in the Western world. “It is estimated that 4.5 million Americans over the age of 65 are affected with this condition. After the age of 65, the incidence of the disease doubles every five years and, by age 85, it will affect nearly half of the population” (Robinson).

Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in America. It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Alzheimer’s accounts for 70-80% of dementia cases. By the age of 65, 1 in 9 people are diagnosed and by the age of 85, 1 in 3 people will have the disease. According to the Alzheimer Association, 5 million people in American have Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s starts to form 20 years prior to being diagnosed. Learning about Alzheimer’s can help families understand how Alzheimer’s is more than just memory loss, it is an incurable mental disease.

The disease called Alzheimer’s is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States (Weiner, 1987). It is estimated that the elderly population will double between now and 2030. During this period, the number of elderly will grow by an average of 2.8% annually (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). By 2050, the number of people with Alzheimer’s is estimated to range from 11.3 million to 16 million (Alzheimer’s Association, 2005). These startling numbers should prompt an examination into one of the leading causes of death among this group of people. Understanding what Alzheimer’s is and the known causes of the disease are a good starting point. For those who have aging family members, knowing the risk factors and warning

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

Alzheimer’s Disease is an irreversible, genetically linked illness. This disease was chosen for the topic of this essay under the consideration that in many families the illness can be incredibly tragic, passing down for generations without mercy. It is not rare to encounter families in which each member is afflicted with a form, mild or severe, of Alzheimer’s. The disease is a progressive brain disease which comes in two separate types: Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease and Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. These will be discussed in full later on in the paper.

The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s doubles every year and recent studies have found that women are more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s then men (Medicine).

     Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is the lost of thinking, remembering and reasoning so bad it screws up ability to do daily functions and eventually resolves in death. Dr. Alois Alzheimer’s first discovered the disease in 1906. Since then research has developed a deeper understanding of the changes in the brain. Warning sign’s of Alzheimer's are memory loss that affects home and job skills, problem in speaking, poor judgment, and difficulty in learning. The last stage of Alzheimer's disease is when you’re unable to take care of

Alzheimer’s disease is ten leading cause of death in women ages 65-74, the five leading cause of death in women ages 75-84, and the four leading cause of death in women ages 85 and older. The rate of Alzheimer's disease with women exceeded men because the women are living longer than men and the different life of women's would raise the incidence of this disease. Also, genetic variation and biological all affects aging of women. The prevention methods of Alzheimer’s diseases are first, lifestyle people who engage in intellectual activates such as reading, playing board games, completing crossword puzzles, and playing musical instruments all this activates reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Second, diet people who eat a healthy and Mediterranean

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, meaning it attacks the neurons within the brain. Neurons are the areas of the brain that allow for chemical messages, or neurotransmitters, to be transmitted. These neurons are necessary for connections with other nerve cells, and without them, the neuronS ultimately die. Alzheimer’s is a form of, and the most common cause of, dementia, or loss of intellectual capacity and personality. ("Dementia.") Alzheimer’s disease, or AD, is not a normal part of aging, although risk of developing the illness increases with age. The onset behavior of the disease normally doesn’t appear until age sixty and older. Though symptoms that appear before age sixty have occurred, it is less common and tends

Dementia is one of the age-related disorders which commonly affect the aging elderly population (65 and over). In 2010, the approximate number of people who had dementia was 35.6 million and it is estimated to double every twenty years, to 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050 respectively. The incidence of dementia every year is 7.7 million which equals to one new case every four seconds (World Health Organization [WHO], 2012). In 2011, the Canadian baby boom generation initially began to turn 65 and became part of the elderly population which significantly impacted the fertility rates (Rockwood & Keren, 2010). In Canada, the elderly population accounts for approximately 13% of the population and one in eleven has dementia (Stein-Parbury & Eliopoulos, 2014). The researchers have estimated that by 2036, it will account for 25% of the population and 28% by 2061 (Bartfay, Bartfay & Gorey, 2013). There are many forms of dementia that an individual can acquire. Alzheimer’s disease is one of the common forms of dementia in the elderly population (National Institutes of Health, 2013). Currently, approximately five million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease (WHO, 2012) from which two thirds account for women (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). The reason behind more women having Alzheimer’s disease is merely due to the fact that women have higher life expectancy and old age contributes to higher risk for acquiring Alzheimer’s disease. It is apparent that Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, which slowly and steadily impairs the mental function and psychological competence. Even though there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, current treatment patterns and research aim to delay the progression towards dementia and the associated symptoms. The strongest risk factor for this disease is increased age, typically seen in individuals over the age of 65, but it must be noted that Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of the aging process.

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 discussion will aim to focus on analyzing an extensive array of different aspects related to the disease. The main focal points of this investigation will delve into the risk factors, including demographics and heritability, and environmental causes associated with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as briefly explaining the biological process of neurodegeneration, improvement in finding new treatments, and innovations to methods of detection. Additionally, examined will be explorations into advancement of further understanding the disease, including recent studies and the implications of such to the future of the field of

While both men and women have equal rates of developing Alzheimer’s disease, men have a greater chance of developing vascular dementia than women are. In a study shown, men have more brain atrophy than women do. As people age, they tend to lose brain cells. The brain will shrink in volume as people get older. The brain does this due to the number of brain cells that decrease over time. Some areas of the brain, including memories, may shrink more than