Alzheimer's Research Paper 2

* Forgetfulness, maybe forgetting names of people that you have been in contact with every day, or forgetting what you did just hours or days ago.

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).

During an average lifetime, one can expect to have at least occasional memory lapses from time to time. Usually it's something as simple as forgetting what you just did a few minutes ago, forgetting if you turned the stove off, or if you left your keys on the table or in the bathroom counter. Such lapses are relatively normal, but when they become a recurring theme, it's a more serious problem.

Short-term memory changes: can remember long ago event that happened, but not what they had for breakfast, where they left an item, why they went in to a particular room, forgetting what they're doing.

Visuospatial skills-problems judging distance or seeing objects in three dimensions; navigating stairs or parking become much harder.

Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory and it is not a normal part of aging, “Although the greatest risk factor is increasing age” (Alzheimer’s Association). Even though our memory begins to deteriorate when we are growing older we don’t necessarily forget we get the “tip of the tongue” effect where we are ale to recollect our memories unlike those with Alzheimer’s.

writing. There has been known cases of people with Alzheimer’s who become anxious, aggressive and wander away from home (Wallace, 1998). These individuals have a severe case of the disease and must be taken care of on a daily basis. Alzheimer’s progresses and affects individuals differently. Many signs are shown in the individual with the disease, which allows you to classify which stage the individual is in. Some of the signs to look for are, difficulty learning and retaining new information, reasoning and abstract thought, judgment and planning, poor language skills, inhibition and impulse control and short term memory loss (Wallace, 1998). If any or all of these signs occur, the individual most likely has Alzheimer’s.

There are major symptoms to Alzheimer’s disease, however, main symptoms that you may notice is memory loss and confusion. Overtime, the

Other possible causes are diseases that affect the brain. In many cases, memory loss is reversible, but those with Alzheimer’s have a progressive memory loss that isn’t curable, but can be helped by medication. Susannah lost her memory for a few weeks, but after treatment, she was able to remember new memories. The old memories were not recovered, so she had to rely on other sources to trace her life during her memory loss, which lead her to writing a book about her

Sometimes it can be mistaken for brain fog, but typical symptoms of Alzheimer’s could be, a loss of normal brain function, confusion, brain fog, unpredictable behavior, aggression, and a steady worsening of mental capacities. The out of Alzheimer’s is bleak. Death is inevitable due to the nervous system being completely destroyed over time.

About three months ago, during the summer, I was living a very unhealthy lifetsyle. For about a week I felt like I wasn't remembering things that should have been easily known. During normal daily activites such as work, I would tend to forget things that would have been easy to remember any other day. I've been working as a deilvry driver at a pizzeria now for close to 2 years, and I know the neighborhood extremly well. However, during this time, I was starting to forget items at the pizzeria such as sodas or where streets were, that I knew extremly well. It is for these reasons that I feel like I was experiecing symptoms of disaciative amnesia

Other symptoms include the person having trouble making decisions and having a sudden burst of confusion.

Memory loss in elderly people is the fourth leading cause of death in elderly people; there are around 4 to 5 million Americans and more than 8 million people all over the world have been suffering from this disease. So, what is dementia in the elderly people? The disease is called Alzheimer's disease (AD) which is a disorder characterized by memory impairment and yet disorders in reasoning, planning, speaking, and understanding.

Acknowledging the cognitive functions and symptoms of the Alzheimer’s disease is the importance of recognizing the disease. The Alzheimer’s disease was first discovered in 1906 by Dr. Alzheimer, after observing and examining a patient with various symptoms of what we know as the Alzheimer’s disease today. From the patient's death, Dr. Alzheimer discovered the results of the autopsy and the brain functions (Marton & Piotrowski, 2016). An article (2016) describe the structure of the brain that causes the symptoms of the disease to arise. The brain has many nerve cells and each nerve cell communities together to operate different parts of our body. Cells also process and store information into our memory system. But, when the brain is affected

‘I can’t find my keys!’ ‘Could you please remind me of your name’? ‘Sorry, I forgot’ How many times have you made similar statements? Have you ever found it hard to recall things, places, people, names and conversations? Do you sometimes feel frustrated at your inability to recall important dates? If so, you are not alone. Forgetfulness is a very common experience for many people.