How Alzheimer's Disease Affects The Dementia Process

This report provides detailed information regarding the Alzheimer’s disease, and how it affects the individual as a person. It examines the facts and statistics of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as cover the survival rate. It covers the cognitive impacts that Alzheimer’s has on the individual, and also the emotional profiles of each of its victims. Gives a general concept of how Alzheimer’s disease has evolved over the past years, and it also shares the advances that it has made. It addresses the role of the public health and aging services, and how it affects the person. It goes into detail on how the brain is affected by this disease, and the impact it can cause for the individual. Overall, it stresses the importance of being aware of the Alzheimer’s diseases because it allows for there to be support, encouragement, and hope for the victims. Just having someone there can make all the difference to someone suffering.

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

Throughout this line of study, Alzheimer’s disease is a specific form of dementia. According to Alzheimer’s Association, dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability that is severe enough to hinder daily life. Memory loss is a symptom of dementia and the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s. One of the most common and severe symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering newly learned information. The changes of Alzheimer’s normally begin in the part of the brain that affects learning (Overview Alzheimer's Association). Some other symptoms of Alzheimer’s include gradual memory loss, the decline in capability to carry out everyday tasks and the loss of their language skills. According to Bialystok the rate of

“Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that attacks the brain's nerve cells, or neurons, resulting in loss of memory, thinking and language skills, and behavioral changes. These neurons, which produce the brain chemical, or neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, break connections with other nerve cells and ultimately die. For example, short-term memory fails when Alzheimer's disease first destroys nerve cells in the hippocampus” (Alzheimer’s Association Foundation.) The destruction of the hippocampus is very serious because the hippocampus is a structure in the brain’s limbic system that plays an important part role in memory (Ettinger 91.) Its is responsible for forming organizing and storing memories.It connects the memories to structures and senses like smell and sound. “The hippocampus is a horseshoe shaped paired structure, with one hippocampus located in the left brain hemisphere and the other in the right hemisphere. The hippocampus acts as a

Alzheimer’s disease is the progressive loss of memory and mental functions. The disease affects memory, thought control, language, and other cognitive functions. The disease typically appears with old age and is often found age 60. Alzheimer’s causes the brain to develop clumps and tangles fibers in the brain tissue along with the loss of neuron connections. Throughout the brain, proteins are abnormally distributed and they form tangled bundles of fibers and amyloid plaques. Some neurons fail to function properly and lose their connections, which are necessary for the transmission of messages to the body. The hippocampus is the key brain structure in the formation of memories and often experiences the first signs of damage.

According to data available from the Alzheimer’s foundation every 67 seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s disease and currently at least 5.3 million people are affected by the disease. The numbers are expected to grow as 75 million baby boomers transition into retirement by 2030. Alzheimer disease is a brain disorder that causes decay and dis- function of neurons resulting in memory loss, speech and language impairment. This can also extend to challenges in physical and social behavioural. The brain, consisting of the cerebrum, cerebellum and brain stem is the primary target of Alzheimer’s disease. At three pounds the brain has a network of arteries and a folded cortex that is responsible for memory and movement. These functions are facilitated by a network of neurons. Alzheimer’s disease interferes with these neurons by disrupting electrical transfer; Death of brain cells is inevitable as the cortex shrinks becoming incapable of developing thoughts and memory. The Alzheimer’s patient experiences an altered personality with family members becoming strangers.

For the purpose of this essay I will be comparing how Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and associated dementias are recognised in the United Kingdom (UK) and responded to, when compared to Italy. I have chosen this subject as there are indications from both countries that dementia sufferers will increase dramatically over the next twenty years. It is estimated that there are 800,000 people in the UK with AD and dementia, this number is expected to double by 2040. At present the cost to the economy is £23 billion, by 2040 the costs are likely to treble(Gov.UK). REFERENCE NEEDED. In Italy there are approximately 1 million people living with dementia. (Alzheimer’s, 2016) It has been suggested by 2020, it is estimated that 584,000 new cases of dementia will occur in the country (Choices, 2016).

“I’m only sixteen, I am too young to be in a care facility!” That is just one of the many things a person with dementia might say. Many patients with dementia lose their memories of growing up and may think they are a child again. Or perhaps they think they are still at home and caring for their families. You could see why some dementia patients may be upset or have behaviors because of this. Not every person with dementia is the same, but most symptoms are similar. In the knowledge of health science there are four different types of dementia which are Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, Frontotemporal Dementia and the Alzheimer’s disease. Questions about Dementia may still be unsolved about how this disease was originally derived, but

Some medications can help slow down the process of Alzheimer’s disease. There is currently only five drugs that can do that. Each drug

This research paper will be about Alzheimer’s disease and how it affects the brain. It will also tell you many other things about Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease is named after the German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer, who first discovered Alzheimer’s in 1906. It is the most common form of dementia, and it is found in around sixty to eighty percent of all cases of dementia. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disorder (physical ailment whose course in most cases is the worsening, growth, or spread of the disease), and it is characterized by large loss of nerve cells and the connection between them, along with change in personality and behavior. Its course is never ending, but pretty predictable. People who are on the upwards of sixty-five

“Dementia is characterized by chronic, global, non-reversible deterioration in memory, executive function, and personality. Speech and motor functions may also be impaired” (Butler and Radhakrishnan, 2011). As defined by Butler and Radharkrishnan, dementia is a disease that affects a person for their whole life. In the next part of this paper, I’m going to talk about the dementia and the effects it has on a person live whether it is with the symptoms, overall experience with it, and what exactly it does to the body. Dementia isn’t a fun disease to have or deal with. According to the World of Health Organization, over 35 million people have dementia (Robitaille, Garcia, & McIntosh, 2015). I’m mainly going to talk about the specific type of dementia Alzheimer’s. “Alzheimer’s disease is defined as a type of dementia characterized by an onset and slow deterioration, and involves impairments in memory, speech, personality, and executive function”(Butler and Radharkrishnan, 2011). Memory loss isn’t just the only thing that happens with dementia. They also experience impairments in language, communication, focus, and reasoning (Ellis, 2013).

Alzheimer’s and dementia are often thought of as an old age disease. Although the most commons risk factor is age but it is not the only one. Most majority of individuals do develop symptoms as elderly, but individuals that develop onset symptoms at a younger age, below 65 are said to develop early onset dementia (Lambert, M. A., Bickel, H., Prince, M., Fratiglioni, L., Von Strauss, E., Frydecka, D., & ... Reynish, E. L., 2014). Many researchers have conducted studies on the impact of cognitive disorders, such as dementia along with Alzhiemer’s, on the affects of the nonprofessional caregiver. Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t just affect the person but the affected person’s family and friends are affected as well.

Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects your cognitive and behavior abilities. Millions of people are diagnose worldwide. It is very common to know someone that has a love one or friend diagnosed with this disease. However, everything changes when you happen to know that someone very close to you will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, my grandmother.

We’ve all heard of it. We’ve read articles about it and seen it on movies such as “The Notebook.” Most of us have family members or friends who suffer from it. So why is it that most individuals still don’t know what it is? According to the Alzheimer’s association, over five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. It is also noted that Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the US, causing more fatalities than breast and prostate cancer patients combined. With that being said, how many commercials have you seen about Alzheimer’s awareness? How many 5k’s and walk-a-thons have you seen advertised opposed to cancer awareness? My purpose with this paper is to shed light on Alzheimer’s and dementia disease and

This analysis of degenerative diseases covers four main diseases in today’s world, including: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and Dementia. Alzheimer’s is a degenerative form of dementia that attacks neurons causing the total or partial loss of memory, thinking abilities, language skills, and basic behaviors. Parkinson’s is a progressive disease that targets the central nervous system. Generally the disease will cause tremors, loss of coordination, paralysis, and eventually death. Huntington’s is potentially the most deadly as it attacks both the central nervous system and the individual’s cognitive abilities. Huntington’s disease causes the affected to lose the ability to walk, speak, eat, think, and even how to breathe. Dementia is simply the beginning junction to all these diseases as it is the most “basic” form of degeneration of the brain. One may ask, how do these horrible diseases come to be and who may be affected? Hopefully this analysis will clarify some of these questions.