The Reason I Chose Alzheimer 's Disease

“Alzheimer`s disease is called a family disease” (ALZlive), because it impacts every family member who is slowly watching a loved one decline. Alzheimer’s disease has an impact on caretakers because caregivers can lead to a variety of emotions, from guilt to anger. When dealing with a client who has Alzheimer; caretakers have a huge responsibility, which can cause stress or depression. If the caretaking is a family member it might lead to finical problems, which can lead to the hard and controversial decision of putting someone in a nursing home, that is better equipped. Guilt is the main emotion that a caretaker can express “I have never spoken to my mother`s doctor, it occurs to me that other children of

When it comes to Alzheimer’s, I know firsthand how it affects individuals and their families. My great grandfather had Alzheimer’s for many years before his passing late last year, at age 92. Alzheimer’s is a disease that many individuals suffer with each year, but yet with all the advancements in modern medicine we still have no cure for it. There are different ways to conquer this disease, understanding the causes, knowing effects, and researching possible treatments.

Memories start to disappear; learning, thinking, and planning become more difficult in the mild to moderate stage of the disease. The plaques and tangles begin to spread to other areas of the brain essential for speaking, forming words, and understanding speech. Spatial orientation areas of the brain begin to diminish. An analogy of a piece of fruit rotting from the inside out can be drawn. Because changes in behaviors and personality become apparent, it is at this stage AD is often diagnosed. However, there is not a definite diagnosis available for a living patient at this time and is only verified with an autopsy. (Edmund G. Howe, 2006) This mild to moderate stage of AD last between 2 to 10 years as more tangles and plaques are formed destroying more neurons in more areas of the brain. The brain literally begins to shrink. The ability to perform the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) such as meal preparation, home and money management progressively deteriorates. By the latter stages of AD, the damage to the entire cerebral cortex affects the most basic functions of the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) of eating and dressing oneself and most the basic elements of personal hygiene as bathing and using the toilet. The individual with AD becomes a shell of the person they once were and may lose the ability to recognize their dearest loved ones. In the final stages, lasting 1 to 5

Patients who suffer from AD also have their memory, ability to learn and to carry out activities affected. Since, AD is not just dementia related there is also another aspect to the disease that causes “progressive neurodegeneration” (Chen). The symptoms of AD are usually slow, but they get worse over time and start to affect your daily life. The majority of people affected by AD are aged 65 and older. If a family member has AD then future generations from that family member are more likely to have AD. This is a very important disease to try to find a cure because “by 2050 as many as 115 million people worldwide will have developed dementia“ (Chen). As of right now “AD affects more than 5 million people in the U.S. alone” (Chen). This creates a huge burden on the family because it leaves their loved ones unable to function alone or to be able to do anything alone. This puts the burden on the family because then they need to find the patient a home to live in to be taken care of or they have to bring the patient in to their home and take care of the patient 24/7. People suffering from AD need to be attended to at all times of the day and constantly reminded why and what they’re doing. This affects a family because then they’re not able to do their daily routines or continue to live their normal lives. The reason is because all of their energy needs to be focused on the family member suffering form the

In a study that was done called aging, demographics and memory study (ADAMS) it was found that older African Americans are two times more likely than older whites to develop Alzheimer or any other dementia. Some of the reasons that have been discovered as to why older African Americans are more common to have Alzheimer’s is because they are found to have higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, along with other vascular diseases. Some other factors that can affect who may end up with Alzheimer’s are lower level of education, and socioeconomic characteristics which are found to be more common in African Americans. In the health and retirement study (HRS) 80% of African Americans were found to have high blood pressure. Other risks that have been found to have increased risk of Alzheimer’s are those with lower educations, low income being below $18,000 a year, and

I am doing a case study for Jenny Stanson, who is a 20-year-old college student who that is currently living with her grandmother. Lately, she has been noticing that her grandmother seems to be confused at times, and often forgets things she has told her. She also informed me that her grandmother is often rather short-tempered. From what jenny says, this does not seem to be her usual manner and happens only infrequently, but Jenny is concerned. She stated that someone told her that her grandmother might be suffering from early stage of Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease was discovered by Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist. The disease was initially observed in a 51-year-old woman, after her family brought her to Dr. Alzheimer with concerns about her personality and behavior. He detected many unusual symptoms, including difficulty with

Alzheimer’s is a disorder that occurs when an individual’s brain cells begin to die gradually, over an unknown period of time. Those suffering from Alzheimer’s experience a multitude of symptoms such as not being able to identify family, friends, and acquaintances, having the incapacity to grasp new knowledge, and undergoing states of confusion.

Alzheimer’s disease not only degrades a patient's quality of life during their final years, but additionally steals those precious years before death away from the families. This gruesome disease also affects my family; alzheimer’s runs on my grandmother’s side and has lead to the deterioration of many strong women. This personal connection has had a pivotal role in my life decisions and goals, leading me to pursue an M.D/Ph.D with a specialty in neurology in order to focus on the clinical research of Alzheimer’s disease. To take part in the NINDS program means gaining experience in the way that actual research runs, seeing how scientists and clinicians collaborate, and glimpsing into the life of a clinician. Thus, this experience will promote my career by providing an advantage over the competition when applying to medical schools, moreover giving me knowledge and experience to draw upon when entering into my own research.

The reason why I chose Alzheimer's is because Alzheimer's occurs very often and when it affects one of our loved ones, there is no way to go back. You start to loose them little by little everyday. Alzheimer's is a disease that makes the victim grow very distant from their memory. It goes to the point of them not knowing what their name is and if they don't know their own name, they most likely will not know their loved ones. This would be very hard to see a loved one go through because you know that little by little, they are forgetting you. Also, another reason why I am doing Alzheimer's is because it's such a terrifying thing yet no attention is given towards it. The first time I ever heard of Alzheimer's, I didn't even know what it was.

Alzheimer’s disease slowly steals a person’s dignity and erases precious memories. The “Alzheimer’s Disease Guide”, found on WebMD explains that tasks become more difficult to do often leading to confusion and behavior changes. The article further explains the progression of the disease also brings hardship to family and friends (1). To best cope with Alzheimer’s we must better understand the disease.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) can be a devastating disease for patient and families, the patient would need 24-hour care and they would become dependent on their families. I used to take care off a lady with AD at a facility. The facility had several room, one for people with early signs of AD where the patients were still doing ADL’s on their own and another where patients needed total care. My client

After Alzheimer's is diagnosed in a parent, or other elderly family member, the caregiver has the task of deciding what the best form of care for the patient is. In order to do this they have to fully understand what the disease is, and

In February of 2000, I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's disease. She was diagnosed with the disease just less than two years prior to her death. Throughout that time, I watched changes in my grandmother that made her seem like an entirely different woman to me. She gradually began losing her short-term memory and we began to see signs of her long-term memory degrading too. It began to get harder and harder to take her out into public without being afraid of what would happen next. Her emotions would fluctuate with the changing of each minute it seemed. Physically she became weaker and weaker and would often scare us with falling while she would be walking. Eventually she had to be moved into the

When a person is diagnosed with AD many decisions need to be made to prepare a person for the inevitable changes that will happen in the next several years. Not all of these changes need to happen at once because that can be very overwhelming to an individual, but preparedness is always a good idea. In the first stages of the disease people can lead fairly normal lives. They may experience slight memory loss and have trouble carrying out simple tasks such as handling money and paying bills, remembering special events such as birthdays, appointments, or anniversaries, and they may also experience some mood and personality changes. In the beginning stages people will need to be supervised bit not as extensively as those who are in the middle stage.