How To Solve Alzheimer's Disease

When it comes to Alzheimer’s, I know firsthand how it affects individuals and their families. My great grandfather had Alzheimer’s for many years before his passing late last year, at age 92. Alzheimer’s is a disease that many individuals suffer with each year, but yet with all the advancements in modern medicine we still have no cure for it. There are different ways to conquer this disease, understanding the causes, knowing effects, and researching possible treatments.

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).

Did you hear the words that haunted me as well? Did a close family of yours get diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a detrimental disease that burdens not only the patient, but the family as well? What is Alzheimer’s exactly? According to What is Alzheimer’s Disease? Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment, published on Medical News Today, Alzheimer’s is “… a neurological disorder in which the death of brain cells causes memory loss and cognitive decline” (Macgill). Now that you know what you and are going against, what are you going to be doing next? When my family first found out that my grandma had Alzheimer’s, we were faced with a decision that would affect my grandma for the rest of her life. Though we knew that we would eventually have to place my grandma into a nursing home, we had to decide whether we wanted to place my grandma into a nursing home or take care of my grandma ourselves when it wasn’t necessary to place her in a nursing home. There were pros and cons for both decisions that made the two decisions very difficult to choose from. My mom, who would be the main caregiver of my grandma, eventually decided that it would be best for my grandma to be in the hands of her family and opted against professional help. Making the

“There is one thing Alzheimer 's cannot take away, and that is love. Love is not a memory - it 's a feeling that resides in your heart and soul.” (Fade to Blank). The human brain is a remarkably complex organ that processes, stores, and recalls information. “Alzheimer 's disease (AD) is a slowly progressive disease of the brain that is characterized by impairment of memory and eventually by disturbances in reasoning, planning, language, and perception. Many scientists believe that Alzheimer 's disease results from an increase in the production or accumulation of a specific protein (beta-amyloid protein) in the brain that leads to nerve cell death.” (Crystal). It is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases, and currently has no cure. (# 3) Research continues to be done to develop better ways to care for those affected with the disease, as well as to find support for family members, friends, and caregivers. Alzheimer’s is a devastating illness that is not a normal part of aging. In order to find a cure, awareness needs to increase to improve understanding, develop effective treatments, and to essentially prevent the disease.

When I was younger, I grew up with four grandparents who I could spend time with. As I started to grow older, my grandparents started to deteriorate. My grandmother developed Alzheimer’s, and more specifically dementia. I remember one day at my beach house when I was talking to her, she asked me who I was because she couldn’t remember. She didn’t remember her own grandson. She started to lose all her memory and she had difficulty hearing and speaking. It got to a point where there was no way of communicating with her, and we wondered if she even knew who her own family was. She went through this deterioration for upwards of 5 years, and I it got to a point where I forgot what she was like before she developed the mental disease. I would watch

In addition to Alzheimer's not receiving enough funding to find a cure, many people should be advocating the problem so more people are knowledged about the issue. According to T.R. Reid, an editor for AARP, there is a lot of funding provided for diseases that already have cures. Since there are cures for diseases such as cancer or HIV/AIDS, there are lots of survivors who are able to share their stories of survival to promote research. On the other hand, there is a lack of funding which has created a delay to curing Alzheimer’s. While there are survivors of cancer and HIV/AIDS there are not any prominent survivors of Alzheimer's that can promote research. Advocating is one major way to get the country's attention about the issue. There are

Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, is a progressive neurological disease afflicting 24.3 million people worldwide. 4.5 million people in the United States are diagnosed with this illness annually (Leifer, 2009). Victims of Alzheimer’s disease reach a stage when they are no longer self-sufficient. Those with severe symptoms or lacking family support systems are relegated to nursing homes. Although scientific studies indicate that Alzheimer’s disease leads to a loss of memory and independence, researchers have proven that caregivers are also affected both physically and emotionally. Research is currently being conducted in finding ways to treat Alzheimer’s and helping their caregivers in the process.

I was not aware that Alzheimer’s was a disease that can affect members of the same family. This disease can be proceeding in an inconspicuous or harmless way but can have a grave effect. The person may think it’s normal to have forgetful moments but shouldn’t be taken for granted. Due to aging and the things that come with normal aging this disease can be imitating. As an adult a person being independent and having to depend on someone can be daunting crush to their ego to ask for assistance. The person diagnosed with the disease can be proactive and come to terms on how this cam impact one’s family and friends. I was not aware of the many affects it can have upon a person such as thinking, judgment, problem solving, language skills, and personality and movement abilities. The disease is a process and can be scary in coming to terms with. Researchers know a lot about the disease and think it can be beat. Due to modern technology and science medicines they have made tremendously progress. The dying nerve cell, the loss of memory and the thinking ability to perform with this disease may not be cured but great process has been made to see inside the brain for the

January 2013 my grandmother passed away after battling Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disease that is permanent and is affecting more elderly people every day. This horrible disease changes the memory and thinking in the brain. Researchers, for years, have been trying to find a way to stop the progression of Alzheimer’s. Researchers, with the help of doctors have been successful finding a way to slow down the progression, but not completely stop it. Although Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects millions of people, with new cases being diagnosed every day, researchers are still working frivolously to find a cure.

It is a degenerative disease, which means it gets worse over time and as of right now, there is no way to reverse its negative effects. Scientists are not entirely sure what causes Alzheimer’s, but the widely accepted theory is known as the amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer’s. This hypothesis states that Alzheimer’s is caused by a buildup of plaques in the brain that damage or kill neurons. These plaques form when sticky proteins called amyloid beta clump together. Amyloid beta proteins are produced when amyloid precursor protein (APP) is chopped into multiple pieces by Beta-site Amyloid precursor protein Cleaving Enzyme 1 (BACE1) and an enzyme referred to as gamma-secretase. The process begins with APP, which sticks out from the membranes of cells, is cut by BACE1, which makes small pieces called sAPP beta, which are unrelated to the development of Alzheimer’s. The small fragment that still remains in the cell membrane is then chopped by gamma-secretase, giving off amyloid beta. There are two main types of treatments that are being researched that scientists believe could slow or even completely eliminate Alzheimer’s, antibody therapies and BACE1

Her name is Sue. One day, Sue was driving and forgot how to operate the foot pedals while driving, resulting in a minor car crash. Everyone in the car turned out fine but out of fear, the family ran Sue to the hospital. A little later, her family found out Sue had Alzheimer’s. Sue’s whole family was affected by her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, recently she has forgotten how old she is, and who her family members are. Sue can’t distinguish her daughter from her granddaughter. Its very difficult to see the pain it causes my friend when she tells me about how her grandmother couldnt recognize who was in front of

In February of 2000, I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's disease. She was diagnosed with the disease just less than two years prior to her death. Throughout that time, I watched changes in my grandmother that made her seem like an entirely different woman to me. She gradually began losing her short-term memory and we began to see signs of her long-term memory degrading too. It began to get harder and harder to take her out into public without being afraid of what would happen next. Her emotions would fluctuate with the changing of each minute it seemed. Physically she became weaker and weaker and would often scare us with falling while she would be walking. Eventually she had to be moved into the

In the time since earning my masters’ degree, I have been employed at a cognitive neuroscience company conducting research in the pursuit of a cure for Alzheimer’s. I began as an assistant, but advanced to become the leader of the research team. Ultimately, our efforts were successful and we identified a potential cure. Although it is still in its early stages, we believe it is an authentic approach and will put an end to this horrific disease.

Action needs to take place in order to increase Alzheimer awareness, because an increase in the awareness of Alzheimer’s disease would benefit the world. This disease is not understood by many people. There are cases in which the families of an Alzheimer patient does not know, to an extent, what exactly happens during the duration of the Alzheimer disease. An increased awareness would help prevent this type of ignorance.

Since 2013, my grandma started suffering from Alzheimers. The mental illness started out mildly and slowly progressed as time went on. Within the two years I went back, her memory started decaying and the ability for her to move was limited. There were days where she was strong and alert about everything, but on other days she was confused if she had eaten dinner or not. I was raised by my grandma until I was six years old. My relationship with my grandma was like no other. She protected me when my parents disciplined me and I comforted her when she would cry alone in her room. Up until the last time I saw her, she was still concerned about me and my future. During the last talk we had, she expressed her feelings of not being able to see me graduate college