Perils Of Ignorance

A major devastating and debilitating disease, Alzheimer 's is a public health issue that affects not only the United States but also countries all around the world. In 2010, there were 35.6 million people living with Alzheimer’s. Researchers and medical personnel expect this number to triple by the year 2050. The disease is costing America an exorbitant amount of money and has become a burden on families, caregivers, medical personnel, the healthcare system, and the nation’s economy. If attention is not focused on this major problem, “nursing homes will be overloaded, caregivers will be burned out, healthcare system will be overwhelmed, and federal and state budgets will be overtaxed” (Alzheimer’s Association, 2011).

1. In her speech, Jane Fonda spoke about aging and the effect that it can have on a person. Fonda talked about “Life’s Third act” or the last three decades of a person’s life. Fonda explained that the advances in medicine and technology enabled the human race to live longer than before (Fonda, 2012). According to Fonda, humans are living on average, thirty years longer than past generations. The human life span has been extended and humans are spending a great deal of their lives in older age (Fonda, 2012). Fonda explains that we should not accept aging as a decline to our mental and physical capacity. According to her, our spirits do not age but mature over time which explains why people over the age of fifty are generally happier, less

17). The generation of baby boomers is named so due to an extremely high birth rate following the return of WWII soldiers. These people, born from the mid-1940s to about 1964, are now either a part of the older generation, or only a few years from it. People tend to believe that the historical cohort’s large population is the only reason for an increased amount of older people in society. In reality, as the article points out, increases in longevity can also be attributed to advancements in medicine, along with knowledge about the spread of disease and general health (MacArthur Foundation, 2009). This myth contributes to the negative stereotyping of aging because those who believe this myth do not see the importance of an aged population. What some individuals do not realize is that generations living longer can provide endless wisdom, experience, and advice to the younger population. Instead of utilizing the increasing life expectancy, people tend to judge older individuals as having physical and mental decline, when in actuality, this is entirely untrue. This false belief is the second myth discussed in the

Largest among the growing populations is the age group 65 and older. This course required us to complete Dr. Woolf’s myths of aging quiz. This quiz has 25 questions all about aging issues. In our textbook, “Adult Development and Aging,” Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields (2011) state, “Everyone does not grow old in the same way. Whereas most people tend to show usual patterns of aging that reflect the typical, or normative, changes with age, other people show highly successful aging in which few signs of change occur” (p. 16). An analysis of Dr. Woolf’s myths of aging quiz will show several different areas to consider in regards to the

When I was reading the article Myths of Aging, I found it very interesting. Almost all of the stereotypes that our society has on elderly is basically covered in this article. The first myth that was covered is my favorite, and this myth states, “All old people are the same.” Reality is there is more variety among older people than among any other age group. I think that this makes a great statement for the elderly because it shows that they are not afraid to be themselves, and that they probably don’t worry about what other people think of them. Also, this article goes on to talk about the myth of the elderly being incompetent, but the reality is that many elderly people, even in the early stages of dementia,

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with relentlessly progressive losses in cognition, memory, and language. According to research by Herbert, Weuve, Sherr, and Evans (2013), 5.3 million people are affected by AD, and that number is expected to almost triple by the middle of the century. As cognitive decline progresses, independence and the ability to perform self-care is lost as caregivers must assume this considerable burden. Given the prevalence of AD, its devastating pathology, and its impact on loved ones and caregivers, the social impact of this disease cannot be overstated.

Health care needs become more challenging every day; in fact, it is one of the biggest problems the American economy faces today. However, within the next 20 years the population of adults ages sixty-five and older is expected to increase and “age is the key factor for development in later life” (Dilworth-Anderson, Pierre & Hilliard, 2012, p. 27). Recent studies have shown there are approximately 5.3 million Americans that have Alzheimer’s disease and it is expected to increase over

The soaring global costs of Alzheimer’s and dementia care, the escalating number of people living with these diseases, and the challenges encountered by affected families demand a meaningful, aggressive, and an ambitious effort to solve this crisis.

There is a growing epidemic in the United States that makes life for senior citizens fraught with danger and uncertainty. The current state in which millions of senior citizens live is frightening. Since 2015, there is an estimated five million people who are dealing with the effects of the Alzheimer’s disease and around 83,000 who die from it each year. Although doctors have some methods of treating Alzheimer's disease, these methods are quite inadequate. Even if family were to use the current Alzheimer’s disease treatment methods, it would only minimally delay the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, the treatments for Alzheimer's disease is often too expensive for family to cover the cost. With all of this in mind, it is necessary

One of mankind’s greatest threats to its wellbeing is Alzheimer’s disease. This disease has plagued mankind for centuries and mercilessly strips people of their independence and intelligence. What makes this disease so dangerous is the fact that humankind has only recently begun to truly understand how it functions, this means that humankind currently has no defense against said disease. Why does mankind only now understand Alzheimer’s disease if it has been around for centuries? The reason is due to the lack of knowledge of the disease, especially by the public. If one were to go back only fifty years ago they would see just how little attention Alzheimer’s disease received; few people knew about it and even fewer were; concerned enough to actually bother learning about it. Logically this brings to mind the question: what caused this relatively sudden shift in perception of the disease? It is no coincidence that the disease is now widely known and identified as a threat by the public and doctors alike. Several factors caused this shift to happen. Everything starts with properly informing the public about these types of issues, for this reason, this paper will serve the purpose of properly informing the reader on Alzheimer’s disease. To do this, it will go back to the very beginning and trace the timeline of the disease. Once this basic foundation of understanding is created, the paper will begin to delve into the complexities and causes of the disease, and ultimately

Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia that is nonreversible and develops over a period of years that affects mostly the elderly population. Alzheimer's disease can be mistaken for normal aging but personality and behavior changes sets Alzheimer's disease apart. Although Alzheimer's disease is considered an aged disease, it has been documented to affect people before the age of 65. This is termed early onset Alzheimer's disease which accounts for 5-10% of all Alzheimer's disease. Statistics conducted by the Alzheimer's Association estimates that 5.3 million people have Alzheimer's disease with an annual cost for medical care of 172 billion dollars [2]. The impact of Alzheimer’s disease on American society has caused Social

According to (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016) there is a myriad of challenges facing older adults throughout their later years of life. The issues range from failing eyesight to aching joints, but the good news is that the aging process is an individual process. The bad news is that it is a process no human being can escape this process in the genetic makeup of every human on planet earth. Our voice weakens, our skin wrinkles, our gums in our mouth

Cognitive aging is worthy of study for many reasons. The more knowledge that is uncovered about cognitive aging, the closer to possibly finding ways to slow the process down, decrease the intensity of the symptoms, or maybe prevent it all together. If there are possible ways of doing so it is important to find them. The “what” and “when” of cognitive aging has made advances, but the “why”, “where”, and “how” are still to be uncovered. We further our knowledge of the “why”, “where”, or “how”, or uncover the full truth, without knowing the full truth about the “what” and “when”. Finding out more about one might lead to learning more about another. Expanding our knowledge on cognitive aging has the potential to increase someone’s quality of life. It has the potential to increase that family member’s quality of life. Cognitive aging effects more than the victim, it effects their

With many Baby boomers now entering their senior years, there seems to be a lot more attention on the elderly. In western society, the elderly are seen as less valuable than their younger counterparts. This assumption has led to many misconceptions; A common misconception that has been very prominent is that the elderly are stuck in their ways and cannot change. This particular misconception ties into the very first chapter that we learnt about in class. When it comes to evaluating personality theories, we must first think about the philosophical assumptions that have risen. Philosophical assumptions allow for people to make certain assumptions about how those around them operate and also how they, themselves came to be. If we know

That normal age associated memory decline is not uniform. For instance, semantic memory remains stable and may even increase as one ages whereas declarative episodic memory decreases as one ages. Therefore, an older person, especially after 60 will have a hard time remembering what they ate for breakfast the last, whereas a younger person would remember that with more ease. In addition, as one ages their working memory decreases and this decline suggests declines in other cognitive areas. These cognitive declines may begin as young as 20 and would get worse with time. Short term memory seems to be relatively stable with a decline after 70 and semantic memory stays intact until much later in