Description Of Alzheimer 's Disease

Alzheimer’s disease known to be a neurological disorder of the central nervous system is an irreversible disorder in which brain cells deteriorate resulting to loss of our cognitive functions, primarily memory, movement coordination, reasoning and judgment, and pattern recognition. In its advanced stage, all memory and mental functioning could be lost (Healthcommunities.com, 2016). This disease is known to be caused by parts of the brain shrinking (atrophy), which destroys the structure and function of particular areas of the brain (Nhs.uk, 2016). Although the exact cause to this process is not known, research suggest that in the brains of patients with Alzheimer 's disease, scientists have found amyloid plaques (abnormal deposits of protein), neurofibrillary tangles containing tau and acetylcholine a chemical imbalances (Nhs.uk, 2016).

Alzheimer 's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain from which there is no recovery. There are three brain abnormalities that are the hallmarks of the Alzheimer’s disease is initially caused by plaques buildup in the brain’s neurons as illustrated in figure 1. The support structure that allows the flow of the nutrients through the neurons gets damaged and ultimately there is loss of connection among the neurons and they die off (National Institute of Health, 2015). This causes the brain tissue to shrinks, which is called atrophies. All this ultimately lead the victim of this disease to face difficulties in governing emotions, recognize errors and patterns, coordinate movement, and remember. Ultimately, a person with AD loses all memory and mental functioning.

Therefore, not knowing the exact causes of the disease, the signs and symptoms will help with the diagnosis. The first sign may be mild forgetfulness that progresses to affect language, reasoning, understanding, reading and

Imagine living a wonderful life, yet once someone reaches their golden years, they cannot remember their past. That is the reality of living with Alzheimer’s disease. This disease is commonly found in the elderly. This explains why people assume older people have a bad memory. Alzheimer’s does not occur in a short period of time, it typically takes months to develop. It involves gradual memory loss due to two specific protein fragments that spread to different parts of the brain killing brain cells as they go. As mentioned in the article Alzheimer’s Disease Fact Sheet (2015), Dr. Alois Alzheimer first discovered the disease by noticing something different in a woman’s brain after her death in 1906. Before her death, the woman was reported to have damaged thought processes, vocal trouble, and odd actions, so Dr. Alois decided to examine her brain where he discovered some unusual clusters of plaques and tangles (Alzheimer’s Disease Fact Sheet, 2015). The plaques and tangles initiate in the brain where memories are first formed. Over the years these two protein fragments slowly sabotage the hippocampus making memories harder to remember and develop. People who do not have the disease usually take simple memories from a few days ago for granted. On the other hand, simple memories vanish with patients who have Alzheimer’s. Some of the main characteristics of Alzheimer’s are the plaques and tangles in the brain that not only kill brain cells, but are the reason for failure of

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, the most relevant cause of Dementia, is a disease that affects as many as 4.5 million Americans per year (WebMD 2005-2014). Alzheimer’s is a disease that is an irremediable, continuous brain neuron degenerative disease that can be asymptomatic at first and then overtime becomes symptomatic. Alzheimer’s is a gradual disease that advances in three phases: mild, then moderate, and, finally, severe (1). Symptoms appear after the age of 60 and include: the slow destruction of memory and thought processes, and ultimately ends with the absent ability to do normal everyday duties. These symptoms can be anything from forgetting a recent event, or can be as problematic as forgetting the name of a family member. There are many daily

Even though people are free of symptoms during the pre-clinical stages, toxic changes are taking place in the brain. MRI scans show that the brains of people who are in the first stages of Alzheimer’s disease are forming thick clumps of hard proteins called beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles. The damage quickly spreads to a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for forming and storing memories. As the disease progresses, the brain begins to shrink and wither as nerve cells die and nerve connections are lost. By the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease the damage is widespread and brain tissue has atrophied and shrunk significantly and victims are unable to perform even the simplest of tasks. (Alzheimer’s Disease;

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

Some pathologic symptoms of Alzheimer’s include the breaking-down of certain nerve cells, along with the presence of neurotic plaques and tangles. Some believe that if there was a way to reduce or break down these plaques and tangles, then people would not be forgetful (Nierenberg, 2016). Over long term testing, most patients with Alzheimer’s showed similar declines, initially with memory, moving to language, praxis, and visual perception (Mckhann, etc. all, 1984).

--- In the normal function of the body system before the disease you would typically only forget little things; for instance every time you blinked , or every exact word you said the previous day , and control of your bowel movements , but after the disease you have no control over anything because the majority of cells in your brain have died off.

Alzheimer’s disease, considered the most common form of dementia, is a degenerative brain disorder which leads to loss of memory and decline of cognitive thinking. Alzheimer’s disease effects over 5 million Americans, a number which is expected to triple in the projected future, and is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States (Dougherty, R.J., et al). Majority of these affected people are sixty-five years of age or older and have what is called late-onset Alzheimer’s, whilst a smaller margin of individuals is younger than sixty-five years of age and are said to have early-onset Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease presents itself in three main stages, is caused by the degeneration of neurons and by the changes in protein composition in the brain, and despite the lack of definitive, early diagnosis or preventative treatment the disease can to a certain degree be detected and managed.

Some of the basic symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease include, memory loss, difficulties in speech, disorientation to time and place, poor or decreases judgment, difficulties in performing familiar tasks, misplacing things, changes in mood or behavior, and a loss of initiative. There are two types of symptoms, cognitive and behavioral. Behavioral symptoms include agitation, anxiety, delusions, depression, hallucinations, insomnia, and wandering. While cognitive symptoms include memory loss, disorientation, confusion, and problems with reasoning and thinking. (American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias)

In addition, Alzheimer in America was found in between 2 million to 4 million people (2). However, doctors believe this number is still going up, yet there is no specific treatment for it. For example, a person who is about 65 years old with Alzheimer have to go throw different test to identify the level of damaged cells in the brain (2). To add, in most cases Alzheimer cannot be treated and the patient could die (2). Some people have larger chances of developing Alzheimer in them due to previous diseases such as dawn syndrome patients (2). In brief, patient with Alzheimer suffer from brain cells damaging, feeling of lost, forgetting many memories, and feeling scared

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, and accounts for more than half of the dementia cases. The disease was named after German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906. Increased levels of protein inside and outside the brain’s nervous cells make it hard to stay healthy, causing them to deteriorate and eventually die. The brain region called the hippocampus is the center of learning and memory in the brain, and the cells in this region are often the first to be damaged. Eventually, the size of the hippocampus will become smaller from lack of cell growth. An MRI

The Mayo Clinic defines Alzheimer's as “a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions” (Mayo). At first, memory loss is faint. For example, an individual may forget that they brushed their teeth or if they turned off the light in the kitchen. As time progresses, however, conditions do get