Research Paper On Alzheimer's Disease

Dementia often includes symptoms such as memory loss, trouble doing normal everyday activities, and problem solving. Once the symptoms come, they will most likely stay. They will only become worse and worse over time, so it’s necessary to try and come to terms with the disease. Caregivers can try to make the person affected as comfortable as possible as their body is slowly transitioning. Because there is a loss of blood flow to the brain, signals that are necessary in order to keep the body functioning properly eventually stop being sent. The muscles will stop being sent signals to move, and sometimes the signal to breathe can even be stopped.

Alzheimer disease touches me very deeply because my great grandmother died from it and me and my mom helped a lot with her care and my grandmother is in the early stages of it too. It is more common in people whose mother had it than if it the father had it which is the case from my great and grandmother. “Early in the disease, older people have difficulty remembering names and recent events and later they demonstrate symptoms that include impaired judgment, disorientation, confusion, behavior changes, and trouble speaking, swallowing and walking” (Tabloski, 214, p.619). My grandma has some of this symptoms specially confusion she is still pretty young but you sure can see the symptoms now and then. It is important that the family is involved

They may still be able to drive, work, and engage in social activities. However, they will notice that they are forgetting things such as doctor’s appointments. They may not be able to find the correct word to describe something simple such as a banana being yellow. They may also become reckless with their money, perhaps donating thousands to any charity that calls them. Moderate Alzheimer’s is typically the longest stage and one may notice more significant changes with the client such as not bathing, “sundowning” which is being more awake and pacing during the evening hours when they should be sleeping. The damage inside their brain makes it difficult to perform daily tasks such as cooking or cleaning. As time progresses, more memory is lost and the thought of them driving can lead to accidents or them becoming lost and unfamiliar with their surroundings even though they have lived in an area all their life. In the final stage, Alzheimer’s disease, will take away their ability to speak, control movement, and eventually the brain will stop the life sustaining body systems and they will die. In the final stage, they will need caregiving around the clock, which takes a tremendous toll on their family.

With this being the case it is recommended that caregivers to the elderly make themselves aware of the common signs of Alzheimer’s. Things such as forgetting a name important dates, appointments or difficulty following a familiar recipe but remembering them later, trouble finding their words when talking, rapid mood swings, separation from friends and family to being confused about a time or place, all of these are signs to watch for and look

Alzheimer’s Disease is a horrible disease that is a form of dementia also known as senile dementia. When Alzheimer's is found in someone, it means that they will have memory loss and certain daily functions will be harder to do, because of the lack of memory. It accounts for 60-80% of dementia diagnoses.

There are many things to set off the fact that your loved one has this disease. They have a tendency to not be able to understand and remember new information that was just told to them. Also another big symptom of Alzheimer’s is not being able to speak, read and write properly. A lot of times someone with early Alzheimer’s, they cannot recognize faces or common objects. Eventually everyday life becomes so hard for them to be able to do things they should usually be able to do by him or her self. These people need to have a loved one or someone close to take care of them. They could also be put into a retirement home if things start to get to bed for even the person taking care of them. Due to the physical and emotional toll of caregiving, Alzheimer’s caregivers had $9.7 billion in additional health care costs of their own in 2004 (Alzheimer’s Disease). Many times people they get Alzheimer’s won’t be able to feed themselves, clothe themselves, or even go to the bathroom by themselves. They have to quit their jobs because of how incapable they are of doing things. They also begin to have personality and behavior changes, they become less interested in things they used to have a passion for. Also they could have severe mood swings, and with mood swings comes aggressiveness and

After the disease progresses, long term memory will start to fade in and out. At this point, the patient can become more delusional or violent in nature. The patient can get depressed or anxious because they are not able to communicate as they once were able to do so. They will eventually not be able to care for themselves independently and wander off if unsupervised. Some of the other common symptoms may be swallowing difficulties, ability to read, write, recognition of objects, sounds or even people. Eventually the client will become totally dependent on others for their daily care. Their care may be home care or nursing home because this is an irreversible

Most families want to be there for their senior loved one. Many simply do not know what to do, how to plan for the future, how to make the home safe, or how to respond to the changes that take place as the disease progresses. Those that battle through, find themselves exhausted and usually face their own health concerns due to lack of sleep, stress, and physical and emotional burnout.

Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects the central nervous system by impairing memory and other critical mental functions. It is a progressive disease, meaning that the longer a person has it, the worse their condition will become.

Alzheimer’s disease, one type of dementia, is a degenerative disorder of the brain that is slowly progressive. Eventually this disease will result in abnormal brain function that will lead to death. Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of the aging process; symptoms lead to a loss of mental abilities and skills, including the ability of taking care of themselves. Though it is very rare, some people do develop this disease as young as the age of forty. However, the most common age to develop this disease is over the age of sixty-five. Although changes in the brain are similar in different people, the psychological and behavioral symptoms that present may differ from person to person.

Alzheimer's is described as a major loss of memory and cognitive abilities that is so serious it interferes with daily life. The disease is known as

Alzheimer's disease is a brain deteriorating disease. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. Dementia is a term used to categorize memory loss and other intellectual abilities that affect the quality of life. There is no true reason why people acquire Alzheimer's but there are many things that can lead a patient to contract it. Alzheimer's disease may occur when there is a loss of neurons and when beta plaques form on the outside of neurons. This can interfere with the commutation of neurons which give the brain ability to coordinate with the human body. Scientists believe that people with Alzheimer's disease have acquired the disease from a combination of their genes, lifestyle and environmental factors that affect the brain over

Changes occur in the body, in behavior, and in memory. Inside the body neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques develop and are found in the brain and spinal cord, this helps doctors test for this disease. Other symptoms that may not have been caused by Alzheimer’s but do increase the risk of it occurring are heart problems, stroke, diabetes and more. In the beginning stages of the disease a patient will present with short term memory problems meaning that will remembers family members and life events but fail to be able to recall some recent events. Because of this they will struggle with learning new things this along with the other symptoms often causes the patient to become depressed and irritable. As the disease progresses so do the symptoms, memory problems become more severe and communication is hindered. Also one of the biggest changes in this stage when the person affected needs help with ADLs. ADLs are activities of daily living such as going to the bathroom, walking, or eating. This is one of the most difficult stages for the patient because it is when they lose a majority of there independence. In the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease a person will need constant supervision to be able to keep them safe. At this point communication will be nonexistent and the patient becoming mute is likely. Another symptom includes aggression and some patients

###To begin with, the begging stage to Alzheimer's disease is called mid alzheimer's disease (early-stage). (Stages) This stage tends to last for two to four years. (Alzheimer's) At this stage the person can still function independently, and be part of social events and activities, but some things start to become difficult. He or she may start having memory lapses. They may start forgetting familiar words and may start to forget where they set objects

Alzheimer 's disease is an irreversible, abnormal, progressive deterioration of the brain that causes victims to steadily lose the ability to remember, reason, and comprehend (Wardlaw 719). At first it may start with things such as: forgetting important dates or events, repeating oneself multiple times, or needing reminders more often than usual. Eventually it may progress to experiencing challenges in completing simple tasks, difficulty concentrating, and confusion. Geriatric psychiatrist, Robert Santulli states, “Alzheimer’s disease involves loss of short-term memory but also other things like the ability to express yourself with language, the ability to perform certain routine tasks like getting yourself dressed or operating a piece of equipment. It has a lot of emotional symptoms that can go along with it as well such as depression or anxiety, sleep disturbance, agitation, and so forth” (Santulli). At the beginning, I remember my grandma as we drove to a hike asking “Where are we going?” to which my grandpa would patiently