Symptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer 's Disease And Dementia

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

Dementia affects the brain by stopping communication between the nerve cells causing them to die which will have an impact in the way the brain works.

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.

Alzheimer’s is a systemic disease, meaning that it affects more than one part of the body. There are three major systems that are affected by Alzheimer’s. The first involves the Central Nervous System. The CNS includes the brain and spinal cord, allowing the nervous system to make the spinal cord and brain function. The Central Nervous System is affected because specific brain proteins begin to malfunction and brain cells die. The loss of brain cells is the reason for memory loss and

Dementia is a disorder that leads to a gradual loss of the cognitive capacity of an individual, ultimately affecting one’s daily activities. Dementia does manifests through the accompanying disorders because it does not exist on its own. In other words, dementia is a disorder that comes about through the existence of the related disorders. The main ones are four, but they are not the only disorders that cause dementia. These include Lewy Bodies dementia (LBD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD). Others include mixed dementia, Huntington’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus and Frontotemporal dementia. According to Ram (2006), these disorders have a broad spectrum of impacts on the patients besides having devastating effects on the overall economy of the world’s nations especially when the number is significantly high. The paper intends to dig out the milestones the dementia disorder has undergone.

An estimated 47.5 million people suffer from dementia. Every 4 seconds one new case of dementia is diagnosed. Dementia is a term that describes certain symptoms such as impairment to memory, communication and thinking. It is a group of symptoms and not just one illness. Even though one‘s chance of getting dementia increase with age, it is not a part of aging. Dementia is usually diagnosed after a series of assessments that includes a physical evaluation, memory tests, imaging studies and blood work. It affects three aspects of one’s mental function, cognitive dysfunction (Problems with memory, language, thinking and problem solving), psychiatric behavior (changes in personality, emotional control, social behavior and delusions) and difficulties with daily living activities (driving, shopping, eating and dressing). “The median survival time in women is 4.6 years and in men 4.1 years” (Warren, 2016).

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.

     Dementia, memory loss, and cognitive breakdown are some of the major signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The disease damages brain cells, which in turn, impairs the memory and leads to loss of memory and the ability to perform tasks. The slow elimination of cells weakens the brain’s ability to remember things, perform normal

Alzheimer’s dementia is responsible for 60-80% of dementia cases and is the 6th leading cause of death in America (Alzheimer’s Association). Once diagnosed there’s no escaping it’s grip. The severity and rapid progressive state of the disease make Alzheimer’s a rather excruciating disease. Alzheimer’s affects groups of nerves in the brain. Doctors believe it prevents the nerve “factories” from running correctly and prolonged back up in a single grouping of nerves begins to affect those surrounding/connected to it (Alzheimer’s Association). As the damage spreads, cells begin to die and cause serious irreversible brain damage. Nerve damage occurs before there is any signs that the patient is developing dementia, and by the time early signs of Alzheimer’s dementia begin to appear there is already significant amount of the brain that has been touched and can no longer to salvaged.

This report talks about Maggie, A 62 year old lady who recently loss her husband and since then she been suffering from early dementia, which makes her leave her home in the night as she is confused between day and night and also forgetful. Maggie is extremely active and her family are concerned of this change of behaviour and they worried that she might forget to take her medication on time and skipping meals.

In people with Alzheimer’s, the neurons become disabled. For starters, Alzheimer’s interferes with the neurons ability to produce energy they need to do their work, a process known as metabolism. Neurons derive energy from the oxygen and glucose which is available through the bloodstream. Without this energy, neurons can no longer communicate with each other and carry impulses to other neurons. They also lose the ability to repair themselves, which ultimately causes them to die. Exactly what interferes with the functioning of the neurons is unclear, and the rate at which the disease progresses also varies from one person to another. Neuofibrillary tangles which is a tau protein that gives neurons their structure by binding to microtubules in a cell and

According to Lu and Bludau, Alzheimer’s influences many aspects such as the organ system, tissue, cells, and organelles. The organ system affected is the brain, which performs numerous crucial tasks. This disease impinges on the control center for all bodily functions. The vital body function that the disease affects in the brain consist of: thinking, seeing, hearing, breathing, and body movements. It hinders storing and making of memories and hinders the aptitude to feel emotions.

“ People look at me and think there is nothing wrong; I am not in a wheelchair, I have full use of all my limbs, I can see, hear, speak and listen….but not for much longer. I am dying: day by day, hour by hour my life is ending. I don’t understand what people are saying: the words run together and they may as well be speaking a foreign language. I can no longer speak or write like I used to. I was once a sociable person, but now I go to a happy affair only to be tortured by the noise and surrounding conversations because I am overwhelmed by the stimulus of sight and sound.” This quote portrays a male suffering from a heart-breaking disease. Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive, degenerative disorder of the brain affects millions of people on planet

In 2009, I found out my father was diagnosed with dementia, early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. It was devastating to hear, especially not knowing what to expect, and only having information and ideas based on stereotypical behavior. I am familiar with some of the characteristics of a person living with AD, (Alzheimer’s Disease), however I really do not know what to expect as the disease progresses. My goal with this research paper is to develop my understanding of the disease as a caretaker, and find alternative treatments to go along with his current medical treatment plan. I am interested in finding out what I can do to make him as comfortable as possible, for as long as possible. I would like to develop a treatment plan as a Licensed

This disease affects the central nervous system. Alzheimer’s disease affects multiple parts of the brain and spinal cord and it also includes the temporal lobe, parietal lobe, frontal cortex, and the cingulate gyrus. Alzheimer’s is characterized by neuronal loss, which is responsible for the loss of memory, language, perception, and cognitive skills associated with the disease (Anthony, Isaacs, Lamastres & Nguyen. n.d.). There are three main components of the brain that are effected which are; The cerebrum, cerebellum; which is under the cerebrum towards the back of your head, controlling your coordination and balance and brain stem; connecting to brain