The Origins and Development of Dementia
Dementia is a disease that affects a vast number of Americans, and people worldwide. As people grow and live longer in today’s world the cases of clinical dementia are increasing. There are many causes of dementia, equally leading to different forms and symptoms of this disease. Most causes of dementia are known, and labeled in order to establish proper treatment. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for more than half of all people with dementia. The cause, and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are well known within the scientific community, but a cure is yet to be discovered. This show that there is still much improvement to be done within the scientific and medical
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The family of dementia consist of about a dozen forms that have been identified. Sometimes the symptoms can overlap several times, making it extremely difficult to classify the cause of this disease. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, affecting most often the hippocampus part of the brain. The hippocampus is known as the memory unit of the brain; it controls pieces of our memories. Alzheimer’s disease is the by far the most common degenerative, progressive, and fatal form of dementia, being accountable for up to 70% of all dementia cases. Getting lost, and forgetting things are usually one of the first warning symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s neurologically changes the human brain creating the rapid death of cells, and neurofibrillary tangles. Another characteristic is neurotic or amyloid plaques, which are spherical structures comprising of a core of beta-amyloid surrounded by degenerated fragments of dying or dead neurons (Gustavsson).
There are numerous symptoms involved in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, still a definitive diagnosis can only be done by autopsy. The cognitive function gradually changes in the forms of declining attention, learning, and judgment. Memory is also extremely affected, in which coincidentally impacts remote memory. Additional cognitive function failures are: difficulties in word finding and communication; declines in personal hygiene and self-care skills; inappropriate social behavior and changes in
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 disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, accounting for 65–70% of all cases (Jellinger, Janetzky, Attems, & Kienzl, 2008). The other dementias are of the Parkinson 's group, the fronto-temporal group and the vascular group. The total worldwide yearly costs for the treatment and care of patients suffering from dementia are estimated to be around 250 billion US dollars. The lifetime risk for AD between the ages of 65 and 100 is 33% for men and 45% for women with an annual increase of 1–2% in the seventh decade to almost 60% in the 10th decade with doubling every 5 years (Jellinger et al., 2008). AD is incurable, and thus represents a major public health problem. AD represents a challenge to humanity due to its relatively recent discovery, progressive nature of the illness, and complex diagnosis.
Alzheimer’s disease is a common problem in today’s society and within the older population this disease makes up the largest form of dementia. Although it is a problem in mainly older people, this disease can still occur in the younger population also. People in their 30s-50s can be diagnosed with this disease, even though it is not as common as people in their 60s-90s. The number of people with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. is close to five million and is expected to double within the next 30 years. With our modern medicine and advancements one would think a cure would be available, however, getting to the cause of the disease is a major factor. The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is one that is very debatable and questionable and most likely is a result of multiple factors rather than one. The main issue with finding the cause is because this disease affects the brain and can
The disease called Alzheimer’s is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States (Weiner, 1987). It is estimated that the elderly population will double between now and 2030. During this period, the number of elderly will grow by an average of 2.8% annually (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). By 2050, the number of people with Alzheimer’s is estimated to range from 11.3 million to 16 million (Alzheimer’s Association, 2005). These startling numbers should prompt an examination into one of the leading causes of death among this group of people. Understanding what Alzheimer’s is and the known causes of the disease are a good starting point. For those who have aging family members, knowing the risk factors and warning
Certain qualities are consistently observed in the Alzheimer’s victim. These dysfunction’s, though, are not exclusive to Alzheimer’s disease. Consequently, declaring Alzheimer’s by these parameters is a matter of degree rather than an absolute. Characteristic dysfunction’s have been noted in Alzheimer’s victims, but the degree and severity of these varies from patient to patient. Thus, evaluation of the patient’s mental status must be made based on the sum, rather than a single characteristic. Memory is one of the first noticed deficiencies, beginning typically with the recent and short term memory, and progressing from there as the disease grows more severe. In addition, deterioration in language skills, attention span, praxis (performance of an action), and visuospatial skills are commonly seen. Also observed are changes in the actions and personality of the Alzheimer’s victim. These include changes in mood, motor activities, activities of daily living, socialization skills, psychotic disturbances, vegetative symptomology, and rise in anxiety levels. Again, the
Alzheimer’s disease is a prominent brain disease that effects a massive amount of individuals in the United States. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 60-80% of dementia cases, with no chance of being cured, prevented or decelerating over time (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). AD is the most well-known form of dementia, causing complications in brain function in the areas of memory, thinking, and behavior (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). In an effort to gain a deeper understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers create new knowledge about the disease, which is then distributed to the public. The goal in this information disbursement is to find new and inventive ways to treat AD, prevent AD from progressing at such a rapid pace, and aid in the quality of life in those diagnosed with AD as well as caregivers and medical professionals providing treatment to individuals’ with AD.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia known today. The term “dementia” refers to a variety of conditions that arise from the loss of nerve cell function and/or nerve cell death in the brain, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other types of mixed dementia. Although all types of dementia arise from neuronal damage and/or death, each form of dementia is associated with distinct brain abnormalities and symptom patterns. Once a patient has been diagnosed with dementia, a physician must conduct further tests in order to determine the exact form of dementia that is present. Recent research indicates that many individuals,
There are various types of dementia that are caused by different things. As stated above, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common case of dementia, though the cause of
Alzheimer’s disease is the six leading cause of death in America with its major cause still unknown. Scientist understand that even before early onset symptoms appear there are communication errors between the neurons of the brain. As the disease progresses, family members often notice that their loved ones are more forgetful then normal. The disease progressively worsens until one is unable to recognized loved ones, has difficulty speaking, walking, and even swallowing. The brain of one with advanced Alzheimer’s is actually radically different from that have a healthy brain.
Alzheimer’s disease, considered the most common form of dementia, is a degenerative brain disorder which leads to loss of memory and decline of cognitive thinking. Alzheimer’s disease effects over 5 million Americans, a number which is expected to triple in the projected future, and is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States (Dougherty, R.J., et al). Majority of these affected people are sixty-five years of age or older and have what is called late-onset Alzheimer’s, whilst a smaller margin of individuals is younger than sixty-five years of age and are said to have early-onset Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease presents itself in three main stages, is caused by the degeneration of neurons and by the changes in protein composition in the brain, and despite the lack of definitive, early diagnosis or preventative treatment the disease can to a certain degree be detected and managed.
The world population is aging and as this occurs, the prevalence of dementia will increase significantly (World Health Organization, 2012). Dementia is an illness in which a person’s memory and thinking decline, behavior changes increase, and the ability to perform everyday activities decline. Dementia mainly affects older people with 7.7 million new cases arising every year worldwide (World Health Organization, 2012). Currently, there are approximately 47.5 million people in the world with dementia and this is set to increase with the national ageing trends. According to World Health Organization (WHO) (2012), one of the most common types of dementia is Alzheimer 's disease which accounts for 60-70% of dementia cases. Increased disability and dependency is one of the major outcomes of dementia; it greatly impacts carers, families, and society physically, psychologically, socially, and economically. (World Health Organization, 2012).
Alzheimer’s disease or also known as Alzheimer’s is the neurodegenerative most common type of dementia that usually commences in older people; this is a very complex brain disorder that interferes with the affected individual’s life as soon as it initiates its mission of destroying the brain, it progresses slowly and gets worse over time from mild forgetfulness to brain impairment. Furthermore, scientist do not fully understand what causes this irreversible disease that has no cure or prevention and it may be inherited. Alzheimer’s disease seems to be caused by unusual plaques (beta-amyloid) and tangles in the brain, damaging important areas of memory and learning (Hanyu et al., 2010), together with, dementia is defined as a loss of mental
Dementia Is there something worse than you forget your family member names and your memories ?.Dementia disorder is death before death as joey comeau said.There are more than 46 million people around the world suffer from dementia.That number is expected to double in the next 20 years as more people live into their 80s and 90s.Although dementia is more common with elderly people , dementia is not a natural part of the aging process. Dementia is a serious disorder caused by a variety of brain illnesses which affects a person’s memory. Dementia characterized by different types,symptoms and it can be controlled by using some treatment.[3] First of all, dementia is an umbrella term describe large numbers of brain disorders such as azheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and vascular dementia. Azheimer’s disease is the most common disorder type of dementia.brain the cell damaged by abnormal protein which leads to a gradual loss of cognitive functioning. The second most common cause of dementia is vascular dementia. It caused by blockage or narrowing of blood vessel which reduce the oxygen of the brain.It results cells become damage or die.The third type of dementia is lewy body dementia.A patient with lewy body develop tiny abnormal structures (Lewy bodies)
With an increase in average human lifespan, dementia has become one of the largest global health concerns of this generation. While scientific advancements assist in alleviating the burden of human disease and average life expectancies currently exceed 80 years in many countries, more and more individuals become susceptible to debilitating neurodegenerative diseases (Dobson et al., 2013). It is estimated that the number of people with dementia worldwide will read 76 million in the next fifteen years and as many
Many older people forget the name of close relatives or misplace things from one place to another. This type of forgetfulness is normal. But, forgetting how to reach home, getting troubled in places and person knows well, or asking questions continuously can be signs of a more serious problem. It is a disease of the brain that started slowly and gets worse as the time progresses. Alzheimer’s is a progressive destroying of brain tissue that primarily strikes people over the age of 65. Brain functions such as memory, comprehension, and speech deteriorate. The term first introduced by Dr. Alois Alzheimers in 1906. Memory is lost first. As days passes, attention tends to distracted, simple calculations become hard, and ordinary daily activities become difficult, accompanied by angry. These symptoms will worsen at night. Gradually mood changes occur like, outbursts of anger, fear to strangers, and deep apathy. There are mainly 3 factors that increase the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease are brain changes, lifestyle and heart health, past head trauma.