Comparison Essay On Dementia And Alzheimer's

     Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia, “a brain disorder that seriously affects a person’s ability to carry out daily activities (Shenk 14)”. Alzheimer’s is a progressive and irreversible brain disorder that slowly destroys a person’s memory and ability to learn, make judgments, communicate, and accomplish daily activities. As Alzheimer’s progresses, individuals may also experience changes in personality and behavior, such as anxiety, suspiciousness or aggravation, as well as illusions or hallucinations.

Knowing the difference between the two is very important when explaining this to a patient. Knowing exactly what dementia results from compared to how Alzheimer's comes to is important to know as a medical assistant.This gives you the advantage of making the patient fully aware of what is going on.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a form of degenerative, fatal dementia, is characterized by progressive cognitive decline. While AD is the most common form of dementia, its prevalence has only recently been recognized. When Alois Alzheimer first described the sequence of changes in 1907, physicians believed the disease to be an extremely rare, mid-life condition. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the same types of changes were shown to occur in both late- and early-onset forms (Cavanaugh et.al. 2008). As such, almost all knowledge of AD has been learned within the past several decades, with new discoveries being reported almost daily. It is now estimated that Alzheimer’s accounts for as many as 60% of all dementias and affects more than 500,000

During the onset of the disease, symptoms are usually non-existant, and progress slowly over the course of many years, often going unnoticed until they become more severe. Alzheimer's is somewhat difficult to diagnose, but there are some common symptoms to all patients. Memory loss occurs in all patients. The person may have trouble remembering small things such as phone numbers, or where he/she put the keys. Eventually, short term memory is lost, and only memories in the far past are able to be recalled. People with Alzheimer's can become disoriented and can get lost easily when out on their own. Mood changes also occur, and the person can be easily irritated or agitated by seemingly insignificant things. Cognitive deterioration also occurs, with the person losing the ability to understand spoken language or recall the meanings of different words (Grayson, "Recognizing Alzheimer's" 1). Despite these common symptoms, making a diagnosis is difficult since Alzheimer's patientscan display the same symptoms as a head injury or depression.

Alzheimer’s disease is incurable, but there are many stages, warning signs, and risk factors that can serve as detection devices for those who have older adults in their lives. One of the most common early signs of this form of dementia is memory loss. While it is normal for people to occasionally forget things, such as appointments and names, people with Alzheimer’s tend to forget these things more often and are not able to recall them even after a period of time. Other signs that signify a possible case of Alzheimer’s is difficulty performing familiar tasks (cooking, brushing teeth), problems with language (using odd words, failing to remember correct words), disorientation (forgetting where one lives, not knowing how he got to a certain place), problems with abstract thinking (forgetting what numbers represent), misplacing items (putting a hair brush in the freezer), moodiness, personality changes (confusion, suspicion, fearfulness), and loss of initiative

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

Dementia can be defined as a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life (alz.org). More than often, individuals affected by dementia are over the age of 65. In the United States, there are more than three million cases of dementia each year. According to World Health Organization, the number of people living with dementia is currently estimated at 47.5 million worldwide and is expected to increase to 75.6 million by 2030 (World Health Organization 2015). Dementia is caused by physical modifications in the brain and is known for loss of memory and mental abilities. It’s a progressive disease which means it gets worse over time. If diagnosed early on, the quality of life for people with dementia as well as their family members can be significantly improved. There are many different types of dementias although some are far more reciprocal than others. One of the most common types of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Other few types of dementias are “Vascular dementia, Mixed dementia, Parkinson 's disease and Frontotemporal dementia (Krishnan, D. S)”. All of the various forms of dementia tend to have similar symptoms which consequently makes it hard to determine the type of dementia a patient may be suffering from.

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).

A brain deteriorates, slowly being engulfed by a mysterious disease. The neurons being cut off and destroyed by two abnormal structures. First memory is affected gradually getting worse. Then one is unable to think properly, reason, and lacks of self control. Gaps are formed in the brain 's ventricles, due to the amount of dead tissue. In the end, it will lead to death. All of this may sound like something from a science fiction movie but infact its very real. These are all known possible symptoms of a common disease that affects about millions of Americans. It is known as Alzheimer 's disease (AD), and I plan on explaining it a bit more in this paper. First I will explain the disease and list some facts about it,then I will talk about some commonly asked questions about it.

Dementia affects each person in a different way, depending on the impact of the disease and the person’s personality before he/she became ill. The signs and symptoms that are linked to dementia can be understood in three stages. There are the early stages, middle stages, and late stages. The early stages of dementia are almost always overlooked since the onset is gradual. The symptoms are familiar to us all, like misplacing items, forgetting appointments not being aware of the time.

The biggest difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is that Alzheimer’s is degenerative and irreversible at this time. According to the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50-70 percent of cases of dementia (Sahyouni et al, 2017). However, there are other disorders that cause dementia such as Vascular dementia, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, dementia with Lewy Bodies and Frontotemporal dementia. In the early stages of many of these disease there are obvious differences in symptoms however, as the disease progresses the differences become more subtle, which can often lead to misdiagnoses. Dementia is caused by damage to brain cells. Each region of the brain is responsible for different function. Thus, when brain cells get damaged in certain areas of the brain the cells can not carry out their functions. This in turn causes cognitive and behavioral problems to occur. There is no specific test that can determine if one has dementia or Alzheimer’s. A diagnoses comes from a doctor's careful assessment of the patient’s medical history, a physical and cognitive functioning examination, and laboratory tests (Mayo Clinic on Alzheimer’s).

With Alzheimer’s there are 3 stages in which a person will go through. First, there is the early stage. You may observe mild memory loss, and as the disease worsens so do the symptoms. In the moderate stage you may notice a difficulty of managing personal finances, household tasks, personal care, sleep routine and many more. As you progress to the severe stage you may experience forgetfulness of family members, communication, lack of control over bladder or bowel, and the need for help of activities of daily living. Symptoms of dementia can vary greatly. In order to be diagnosed with dementia at least two things will need to be present within the following: memory, communication, the ability to focus, reasoning, and vision perception. The symptoms of dementia start off slowly then gradually increase, this is known as a progressive

Alzheimer’s and Dementia many times fall into the same category of memory loss as many people think are the same thing. Although it is not completely untrue that both are involved in the deterioration of mental cognitive tasks, they are not the same. Healthline states that dementia is a group of symptoms that affect memory in a negative way, and that Alzheimer's is “a progressive disease of the brain that slowly causes impairment in memory and cognitive function”(HealthlineEditorialTeam, n.d.). Due to dementia being a syndrome it does not have a definitive diagnosis.

Dementia is characterized as a condition where the mental processes of cognition and memory start to deteriorate. It is described as a syndrome that hinders the daily lives of those who have it and is characterized by memory and thinking impairment. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease and the second most common is vascular dementia. Dementia is a syndrome occurring usually, but not limited, to people over the age of 40 and is due to brain damage caused by natural deteriorating, stroke or can be brought on by factors such as excessive drinking or drug abuse. Dementia is best cared for in its early stages and, therefore, an early diagnosis is essential. Recognizing the symptoms by both the dementia patient and the

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.