The gradual slipping away of mind and memory is frightening and frustrating, both for the person with the disease and for family and friends. This is ideally some of the symptoms of the deadly disease of Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia, a disease that according to the Alzheimer's disease Education & Referral Center is defined as: “…a group of symptoms that are caused by changes in brain function”. According to the National Institute on Aging in a book entitled “Alzheimer’s Disease, Unraveling the mystery” the authors chronicled that Alzheimer’s disease affect people in different ways. The most common and noticeable symptoms are: 1). Memory loss that disrupts daily life 2). Challenges in planning or solving problems
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Alzheimer later described Auguste D as having an aggressive form of dementia, manifesting in memory, language and behavioral deficits. Dr. Alzheimer noted many other abnormal symptoms, including difficulty with speech, agitation, and confusion. He followed her care for five years, until her death in 1906. Following her death, Dr. Alzheimer performed an autopsy, during which he found dramatic shrinkage of the cerebral cortex, fatty deposits in blood vessels, and atrophied brain cells. He discovered neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques, which have become indicative of Alzheimer’s disease. The condition was first discussed in medical literature in 1907 and named after Alzheimer in …show more content…
That is to say, age is a significant risk factor for the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease, and research indicates that the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease doubles every five years beyond age 65. Those at the greatest risk for this malady are individuals over 85 years old which will see their statistics tripled by 2050. It is further estimated that about a half million Americans younger than age 65 have some form of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. (This is referred to as young onset or early onset). (National Institute of Health [NIH], 2013). Consequently Alzheimer’s disease is further considered to be a grave issue in aging as it is reported to be the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. As said by Vera (2013) in a print publication entitled “Mortality From Alzheimer's Disease in the United States: Data for 2000 and
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 the most common type of dementia that generally initiates the lost memory, problem of critical thinking and behavior problems for the elderly patients. It’s not a normal part of aging but the large number of elderly people reached 65 and older are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The most common early symptoms are struggle in remembering recent events or short term memory. As the disease advance more symptoms begin to show up like problems in speaking and language, disorientation like getting lost and cease to remember the present activity that they are supposed to do. Mood swings go from happy to sad for no reason. Not managing their self, personal hygiene
Alzheimer’s is a disease in the brain that affects a person’s memory, thinking, and behavior. It is the most common form of dementia and is common in adults older than 65. More than five million Americans are being affected by Alzheimer’s at this moment. Alzheimer’s comes in three stages; early, middle, and advanced. The disease is caused by the shrinking of the brain due to many risk factors and genetics.
Alzheimer’s Disease is a form of dementia affecting more than one third of those over ninety-five years old. Its effects vary per person and become systematically more extreme as time wears on. Alzheimer’s is currently incurable and impossible to slow, destroying neurons and brain tissue, resulting in loss of memory, judgment, awareness, communication, behavior and capacity for emotion. Changes in personality and loss of initiative are also common symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
Early 1900’s a man named Alois Alzheimer cared for a woman who had rapid severe declining dementia, after she died he was able to study her brain where he found atrophy of the grey matter along with plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, which when destroyed interrupts the messages sent from the neurotransmitters to the central and limbic regions of the brain resulting in early
In 1906, Dr. Alois Alzheimer, noticed some changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms were comprised of memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable behavior. After her death, Dr. Alzheimer examined her brain and found many abnormal clumps (amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of
Alzheimer 's is a slow and debilitating disease that generates multiple problems with cognitive skills including; memory, thinking and behavior. (MedlinePlus, 2015) It is especially painful for friends and family members who see their loved ones progressively lose their memory and ability to function as they normally have. Symptoms typically develop gradually and progressively get worse over time, becoming severe enough to put the person afflicted with the disease unable to complete daily tasks and placing themselves at risk. (MedlinePlus, 2015) Alzheimer’s is the most common diagnosed condition of dementia. (MedlinePlus, 2015) Sixty to eighty percent of dementia cases are designated as Alzheimer’s. (MedlinePlus, 2015) Although the greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer’s is increasing age, it is not considered a normal part of aging. The majority of those diagnosed with Alzheimer 's are approximately sixty-five and older. However, Alzheimer’s is not just a disease affected by the older age populations. About 5 percent of people with Alzheimer’s experience early symptoms and the onset Alzheimer 's and most often appears in their forties or fifties. As stated above, Dementia or Alzheimer’s symptoms gradually worsen over time. In the early stages, it is common to experience mild memory loss. Eventually, the ability to carry on a conversation is lost. The sixth leading cause of death in the United States is Alzheimer’s. After Alzheimer’s symptoms become publicly
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is the lost of thinking, remembering and reasoning so bad it screws up ability to do daily functions and eventually resolves in death. Dr. Alois Alzheimer’s first discovered the disease in 1906. Since then research has developed a deeper understanding of the changes in the brain. Warning sign’s of Alzheimer's are memory loss that affects home and job skills, problem in speaking, poor judgment, and difficulty in learning. The last stage of Alzheimer's disease is when you’re unable to take care of
Alzheimer’s disease usually affects geriatrics that is nearing the age of 60, but there are sometimes rare cases of early-onset Alzheimer’s occurring around the age of 30. Early-onset Alzheimer’s identifies less than 5 percent of all the people who have Alzheimer’s disease (Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center). According to WebMD (2014), late-onset is the most common form of Alzheimer’s disease that victimizes almost half of all of the people over the age of 65 and may or may not be hereditary.
Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer who first discovered deviations from normal tissues of healthy individuals in the brain tissue of a lady in 1906. The woman, who showed symptoms of erratic behavior, loss of memory, and problems with communication, died of a then unfamiliar mental disorder. This led Dr. Alzheimer to investigate the cause of her unusual death. He assessed the brain of the woman and found that there were many anomalous masses (amyloid plaques) and intertwined bundles of fiber (neurofibrillary tangles). Scientists today have pinpointed the qualities of Alzheimer’s to be a) tangles in the brain (neurofibrillary tangles), b) plaque in the brain (amyloid plaques), and c) loss of connections among nerve cells.
Alzheimer’s Disease was first described by the German neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer (1864–1915) in 1906. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia defines Alzheimer’s Disease as “progressive degenerative disorder of the brain”. One suffering Alzheimer’s may suffer with
According to the webpage, “What are the 7 Signs of Alzheimer’s,” there are seven stages that someone with Alzheimer’s goes through. During the first and second stages, doctors and family members would not notice that the person has the disease because the memory loss is not quite visible yet. The third and fourth stages are when it starts to become noticeable. The person may have trouble coming up with
Even today, doctors use the same technique that Dr. Alzheimer used to observe the plaques and tangles in the brain. (2) Studies show that the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increases with age. Almost 20 percent of Americans between the years of 75 and 84, and almost half of those that are 85 years and older suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (3). One out of every 10 persons that are 65 years of age and older are said to be victims of Alzheimer’s disease, yet even some early-onset victims might be in their 40s and 50s (4).
Alzheimer is a silent disease that primarily attacks the brain having the effect of the gradual memory loss of the patient, what this means is that Alzheimer is the most common form of dementia, which is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases in this case combined with Alzheimer’s patients suffers from memory loss and other intellectual abilities that interfere with daily life. Alzheimer patients cannot follow instructions, suffers confusion and disorientation in time and space, and may even become lost in familiar places for them. In addition, the person may have impaired judgment, confuse their loved ones and in many cases even unknown themselves, in other words, patients
Alzheimer’s disease is a very slowly progressive disease that occurs inside the brain in which is characterized by damage of memory. Also this type of disease can lead into interruption in language, problem solving, planning and perception. The chance of a person developing Alzheimer’s disease increases enormously after the age of 70 (Crystal, 2009). Also people who are over the age of 85 have over a 50 percent chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. This type of disease is not at all normal in the aging process and is also not something that happens out of no where in a person’s life.