Alzheimer's Disease Research Paper

688 Words2 Pages

Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that causes a person to lose their memory, and their ability to function normally in a day to day life. This horrible disease credits for up to 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases (Medical and Scientific Advisory Council). Although most patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are around the age of 65 and older, younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease occurs in roughly 200,000 Americans below the age of 65 (Medical and Scientific Advisory Council). Alzheimer’s is a disease that tragically causes an individual to lose their memory, commonly forgetting their loved ones and can cause one’s personality to drastically change. Sadly, this disease only worsens over time, lacking a cure. The symptoms, causes, and complications …show more content…

Memory loss that causes an individual to no longer capably function on their own is one of the main symptoms in Alzheimer’s (Mayo Clinic Staff). People with this disease often repeat themselves continuously, forget important conversations and events, misplace objects in absurd areas, get lost easily in familiar surroundings, forget the names of the one’s closest to them and commonly known objects, and have a difficult time participating in conversations due to their inability to think clearly (Mayo Clinic Staff). People suffering from this disease may experience depression, apathy, social withdrawal, mood swings, distrust, irritability or aggressiveness, changes in sleeping patterns, wandering, loss of inhibitions, and delusions. (Mayo Clinic …show more content…

The loss of a person’s memory and the inability to think rationally on one’s own makes treatment even more difficult. People with Alzheimer’s often cannot tell a doctor or caretaker when they are in pain, they are unaware when they are becoming ill with another type of sickness, have difficulties following a treatment plan due to forgetfulness, and typically fail to notice the side effects of their medications (Mayo Clinic Staff). In its final stages Alzheimer’s begins to affect a person physically just as much as it has mentally. Effects such as aspiration, pneumonia, loss of balance, fractures, bedsores, and malnutrition or dehydration strongly increase the susceptibility of a person with Alzheimer’s, frequently leading to more health problems. (Mayo Clinic

Mrs. Boswell’s Dilemma
1185 Words | 3 Pages
Pah-Lavan, Z. (2006). Alzheimer's disease: the road to oblivion. Journal of Community Nursing, 20(5), 4. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
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Alzheimer Case Study
1431 Words | 3 Pages
Alzheimer’s has no current cure, but there treatments available for the symptoms. Treatments cannot stop alzheimer’s from developing but they can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve their live quality. Medicines like Cholinesterase inhibitors, and Memantine are to help with memory.Drugs don’t consistently help relieve the symptoms, so there are also Non -drug treatments, like managing their environment and establishing a routine to help minimize stress and anxiety. In the first stage of Alzheimer the person phases a lot of emotional stages that are very challenging and distressing. In early stages people experience irritability,Anxiety and depression. “What are the complications?” is a question commonly asked , and they are an infinite number of complications. Let start with depression, most people become depressed when they realize that they are losing their memories and abilities to do the basic things. The second complication i would say is illness or medicine side effects. This disease makes communicating harder for the person, they might be in pain but not been able to tell the nurse. Falling is another one, alzheimer can cause changes in balance and coordination, which might led to broken bones , head trauma or other injuries.Pneumonia and other infections, Alzheimer 's can also cause a loss of body functions , like swallowing or bladder control. This can cause for the person
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Alzheimer's and acetylcholine
731 Words | 2 Pages
Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease that takes the lives of many. There is someone diagnosed with Alzheimer’s around the world every seventy-two seconds. It is a form of dementia that slowly takes away the most basic of memories all the way to the memories of children, weddings, and even the saddest ones such as family death. The people that Alzheimer’s affects have a hard time with remembering tiny details and the disease begins with taking away the function of short term memory. This happens because the levels of acetylcholine are known to drop up to ninety percent beginning in the entorhinal cortex and moving into the hippocampus. Because of this, of the first signs of Alzheimer’s is the loss or decrease of the sense of smell, hence the entorhinal. The cells in the hippocampus called the hippocampal cells lose their connection and the result of this is the total loss of short-term memory. The neurons resting in the cerebral cortex then start to degenerate which in turn leads to the difficulty with the function of language and judgment. This also causes appetite to decline and then there is the loss of control over bowel movements. The disease will progress with many ending up not even recognizing their own children, much less being able to eat or bath or do simple tasks that they normally would not even have to think about.
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Alzheimers Disease
1096 Words | 3 Pages
Alzheimer’s disease is a complex illness that affects the brain tissue directly and undergoes gradual memory and behavioral changes which makes it difficult to diagnose. It is known to be the most common form of dementia and is irreversible. Over four million older Americans have Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to triple in the next twenty years as more people live into their eighties and nineties. (Johnson, 1989). There is still no cure for Alzheimer’s but throughout the past few years a lot of progress has been made.
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Alzheimer's Disease Essay
1938 Words | 4 Pages
People with Alzheimer’s disease often suffer from fatigue, irritability, loss of appetite and visual impairment. They are more likely to develop infection, such as pneumonia and bladder infections. Suffering from AD means that it can be harder to deal with these infections and illnesses, which eventually make it more difficult to recover. When people die from Alzheimer’s disease, normally it is because of a related problem, such as an infection rather than the disease itself. However, if Alzheimer’s disease progresses to the point where the areas of the brain that control essential functions, such as breathing, swallowing and balance are affected, it will be fatal.
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Alzheimer's Disease Essay
821 Words | 2 Pages
Everyday a new disease or treatment is being discovered. There are always many questions left unanswered and many answers that are still trying to be figured out. Doctors, along with medical treatment centers and every day people are trying to figure out what Alzheimer’s disease really is or what it is about. Alzheimer’s disease has many common symptoms and effects in both men and women. The common, but confused name for Alzheimer’s disease is Dementia. People commonly confuse these two names because of the effects or symptoms that relate back to the name. Not many people know exactly what Alzheimer’s disease is or what causes it. But there are significant warning signs that lead people to conclude that is it a sad uncontrollable disease.
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Alzheimer's Disease Essay
1509 Words | 4 Pages
Alzheimer’s disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that becomes more prevalent with age. Discovered by German psychologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906, it is associated with a memory loss, speech impediment, and dementia. In Canada alone, 500,000 people suffer from this terrible disease and the number of cases is predicted to double by 2031[7]. Worldwide, nearly 44 million people are believed to be experiencing Alzheimer’s disease and every 68 seconds, someone in the United States of America develops Alzheimer’s [8]. Alzheimer’s disease is also the sixth leading cause of death in North America. Furthermore, it is the only leading cause of death that is still increasing in prevalence. Not only fatal, Alzheimer’s is also severely crippling for all the friends and family that are affected by the patient. The memory loss and dementia that is directly linked to Alzheimer’s disease can cause the patient to forget the identity of their loved ones. For the people that have known the patient for many years, this can be very devastating. The long and terrible journey from an able-bodied and functioning member of society to a barely self-sufficient person is not a pleasant one. Undoubtedly, Alzheimer’s disease needs to be cured not only for those suffering from the affliction, but for their loved ones who have to endure the fateful journey as well.
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Alzheimer's Disease Essay
813 Words | 2 Pages
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. Alzheimer’s disease affects central nervous, neuromuscular, and digestive system. In the digestive system, swallowing difficulties are common for people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. In the neuromuscular system, the ability to walk and maintain their posture in a chair is common for people with Alzheimer’s. In Alzheimer’s disease, the connections between brain cells and the brain cells themselves deteriorate and die, which causes a steady decline in memory and mental function. It is the most common cause for dementia, which is a brain disorder that results in the loss of intellectual and social skills. (Staff, 2013) It is severe enough to interfere with every day activities. It is important to seek support through counseling and maintain medical assistance through medication or any other form of aid. Alzheimer’s disease is a condition that should be considered a priority in order to be able to maintain a decent lifestyle.
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Alzheimer's Psychology Essay
969 Words | 2 Pages
Alzheimer's disorder is a mental disorder that affects your brain, and in particular the disorder affects the memory part of your brain. The disorder slows down the memory section of your brain, and as a result the number one symptom of Alzheimer's is memory loss. The disorder usually doesn't affect younger people, but instead affects people that are older than the age of sixty. The disorder can get so serious that the patient could loss there of about everything that has ever happened in their life. Patients usually loss their memory of their childhood during the most severe, intense, and last stage of the disorder. Alzheimer's disorder can also have a drastic effect on the patient's family, because during the disorder the patient can forget about their entire family.
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Alzheimer's Disease Essay
750 Words | 2 Pages
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the leading causes of death in America and there are currently more than five million people living with the disease (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). What may be most troubling about these numbers is the fact that Alzheimer’s disease has no current cure. Alzheimer’s disease is a neurocognitive disorder and a common form of dementia that will affects a person’s memory, way of thinking and their behavior (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). AD typically develops slowly and the more time a person has the disease the worse the symptoms will become. AD in its later stages becomes so severe that people with the disease cannot even do simple daily tasks. Although there is no cure there are still ways to prevent, delay, and possibly treat the disease.
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Alzheimer's disease
845 Words | 2 Pages
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks and destroys brain nerve cells or neurons eventually killing the cells. It is the most common form of dementia (around 50-60% of all cases of dementia). it affects 1 in 20 people over the age of 65 and 1 in 1000 people under the age of 65. Although it affects more people over the age of 65 it doesn’t mean that age is the cause of the disease. Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease suffer from memory loss, thinking difficulty, loss of language skills and changes in behaviour. No one is immune to this disease. Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr Alois Alzheimer’s. In 1906 he noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who died from an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included loss of memory, language problems and unpredictable behaviour. After her death he examined her brain and found abnormal protein fragments called plagues and tangles. These protein fragments are the two major features of Alzheimer’s disease. The third is the loss of connection between nerve cells and the brain.
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Alzheimers Disease
1177 Words | 3 Pages
It is inevitable that eventually each of us will grow old and begin to face more and more health problems as our age rises. Elderly people are challenged by many illnesses and diseases that unfortunately, are incurable. One disease that becomes more common as people age is Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s a common cause and a form of dementia and can severely damage a patient’s cognitive functions and can ultimately cause death. Living with Alzheimer’s disease can be saddening for both the sufferer and the family. Family and friends will find it very hard to cope when a loved one begins slipping away and losing memory of who they are.
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Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease
859 Words | 2 Pages
Alzheimer’s is a disease that many people have heard of, but few really know much about. Imagine not being able to remember your loved ones and friends or even how to do simple tasks like dressing yourself and brushing your hair. Now imagine having to dress your mother, who rarely remembers you anymore. This is the reality of life for millions of older people afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and the families that care for them. Alzheimer’s causes cognitive function to decrease gradually overtime. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia - affecting around 5 million Americans (alz.org). It is the most fatal disease affecting older people and needs to be taken seriously.
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Memory Loss And Treatment Of Dementia And Alzheimer's Disease
1586 Words | 4 Pages
(http://www.helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_dementias_types.htm) As people get older, it’s not all that uncommon to experience some changes in memory such as memory loss. However, there is a big difference in having normal changes in memory and having symptoms of Dementia. Typical aging changes in memory include things like not being able to find the right word when having a conversation and complaining about memory loss but still being able to give detailed examples of things that are being forgotten. A few more signs of typical aging are stopping to remember directions but not getting lost in a familiar place, being able to remember recent events that are important and the conversation isn’t affected, and having the same level of interpersonal social skills that have always been present. On the other hand, there are more extreme cases of memory loss that are symptoms of Dementia. These include things like complaining about memory loss only when asked about it and not remem...
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Essay On Alzheimer's Disease
1302 Words | 3 Pages
Alzheimer’s Disease is formed in the brain but yet, has no known cure or treatment. Alzheimer’s Disease has many symptoms. Memory is the biggest symptom along with mood swings and having a hard time with keeping a conversation. A patient with Alzheimer’s goes through 7 stages; The first stage, which is misplacing things or forgetting what something is used for, second stage, they start losing more of their memory and they begin to forget where they are or what they are doing, the third, fourth and fifth begin to mentally decline and need someone to take care of them and worsen over time.The sixth stage they begin to have an even more difficult time going to the bathroom and cleaning themselves or using electronic devices such as phones or televisions. The final stage, at which the long goodbye comes to an end, they now are mentally and physically gone. Some doctors prescribe medication to the patients to help deal with some of the symptoms.
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Alzheimer's Disease Research Paper

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