Compare and Contrast Essay: Tay-Sachs, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Fragile X Syndrome

More than 30 million people are affected worldwide, Alzheimer's is the number one cause of dementia. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that destroys memory and essential mental functions. The brain cells and the actual cells deteriorate and die; the main symptoms are confusion and loss of mind. Dementia follows Alzheimer's; you can’t have one without the other. Dementia, on the other hand, it is not its own disease, it is a group of thinking and social symptoms that hinder everyday tasks. Over 100 years ago a German physician by the name Alois Alzheimer’s

1.2 Compare the experience of dementia for an individual who has acquired it as an older person with the experience of an individual who has

Certain qualities are consistently observed in the Alzheimer’s victim. These dysfunction’s, though, are not exclusive to Alzheimer’s disease. Consequently, declaring Alzheimer’s by these parameters is a matter of degree rather than an absolute. Characteristic dysfunction’s have been noted in Alzheimer’s victims, but the degree and severity of these varies from patient to patient. Thus, evaluation of the patient’s mental status must be made based on the sum, rather than a single characteristic. Memory is one of the first noticed deficiencies, beginning typically with the recent and short term memory, and progressing from there as the disease grows more severe. In addition, deterioration in language skills, attention span, praxis (performance of an action), and visuospatial skills are commonly seen. Also observed are changes in the actions and personality of the Alzheimer’s victim. These include changes in mood, motor activities, activities of daily living, socialization skills, psychotic disturbances, vegetative symptomology, and rise in anxiety levels. Again, the

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.

1.2 Compare the experience of dementia for an individual who has acquired it as an older person with the experience

Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common causes of dementia. The term 'dementia' describes a set of symptoms, which can include memory loss, changes in mood and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms occur when certain diseases and conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, damage the brain. Alzheimer's disease could be described as a physical disease affecting the brain. During the course of the disease, protein 'plaques' and 'tangles' develop

Tay Sachs is an incurable genetic disease that affects the central nervous system. It is a rare disorder that occurs chiefly in infants and children, especially those of the Jewish heritage. It is characterized by a red spot in the retina, paralysis, gradual blindness, and loss of muscle movement.

According to the Department of Health (DoH, 2013), dementia is describe as a syndrome that can be caused by number of progressive disorder which affects memory, thinking, behaviour and ability to perform everyday activities. Whereas Morris and Morris (2010), describe dementia as deterioration of the brain cells which affects the memory, thinking, communication and mood changes with a specific disease. Both description of dementia are similar in which the disorder

Alzheimer's. The purpose of my paper is to gain a clearer comprehension of this horrible,

The history behind Tay Sachs disease is in 1881 Warren Tay who is a ophthalmologist had this child with mental and physical retardation in the child’s

Tay Sachs is a disease in the nervous system. It mainly occurs in infancy, and the infant can appear normal until ages 3-6 months when their muscles for movement weaken and development slows down. Affected infants with Tay Sachs disease loose motor skills such as sitting, crawling, and turning over, and in some cases develop an extreme startle reaction to loud noises. As this vigorous disease advances, children distressed can experience paralysis, intellectual disability, seizures, hearing and vision loss, and an eye abnormality called a "cherry-red spot." Most children afflicted usually only live into early stages of childhood.

characteristics can consist of prominent ears and forehead, high palate, flat feet, and flexible finger joints (FX Syndrome, 2007). Although many characteristics are similar to Downs Syndrome, children with Fragile X have been found to have fewer mistakes in many areas of speech than the children with Downs Syndrome (Roberts, et al., 2005). Other characteristics can range from learning disabilities to more

The most common form of inherited mental retardation (MR) is Fragile X syndrome. The mutation of the gene completely turns off and does not produce the protein needed to make certain all other genes function properly. It is linked to other disorders. There are many characteristics connected to Fragile X. For example, neurological, physical, and psychiatric. The cognitive and behavioral attributes are more significant since they affect how the child will learn and function. Fragile X children are oversensitive to noise and the activity going on nearby. They will often throw tantrums and be aggressive (Braden, M., n.d.). Although, this syndrome does not have a cure these children may be helped with early intervention. Methods of

Within a year of the examination, two of the three children died. A few years later, one of the children’s parents brought a newly born sibling with the same symptoms to Tay’s clinic; leading Tay to believe whatever the disorder was, quite possibly was hereditary (Cowan 133).

Nowadays, one of the most prevalent diseases is considered to be the neurodegenerative disorders because of increased life expectancy and population’s growth. With the term neurodegeneration is characterized the process of the nervous system, in which there is a progressive loss of structure and functions of neuronal cells. Neurodegenerative disorders are, also, defined as hereditary, incurable and debilitating conditions. The most common neurodegenerative diseases are Alzheimer and Parkinson. Both of these diseases are late-onset and many individuals believe that there is a relationship between them. The present essay emphasizes on the description of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease as well as the comparison and the contrast of the biological