Alzheimer's Research Paper

In America, about every 65 seconds, someone’s life changes by Alzheimer’s disease ("Alzheimer’s Disease 1"). Alzheimer’s disease is a disease the impairs a person memory and the ability to do daily life activities. By having great interest in this topic people are able to learn more about how the types effect people, how it destroys the brain, how the disease can affect people’s more life, and the symptoms that come along with it. Alzheimer’s disease is a disease that is known to impair the ability of life. Alzheimer’s disease can have a major impact on the brain, physically, and emotionally.

Alzheimer’s disease was first to discover in 1906. Throughout the years, advancements and technology have helped majorly, but there is still no

possible cure. With the technology, scientist now has a better understanding how the brain works and the effects it has had on people. With advancements, scientists are now able to dig deeper into the study of this disease. Alzheimer’s Association was created 1980. By having this association around, people have taken the time to fully understand what causes Alzheimer’s and the effects it has on the brain ("Major Milestones 1"). Alzheimer’s disease is the disease the can mentally and physically change someone. People tend to experience a difficult time completing normal tasks or they simply forget about the people around them.
Alzheimer’s can affect people in their 30’s or 60’s.

There are two types of Alzheimer’s. The first and earliest sign is called Early-Onset Alzheimer’s which tends to affect people in their early thirties or sixties. It tends to be a very rare type (“What Causes 2”). Parents tend to pass down the gene to the child. It’s only seen in about ten percent of the people with Alzheimer’s. It only takes one parent to have this gene, by having one parent who is a carrier, the child has a 50/50 chance of developing early Alzheimer’s. If the parent happens to be a carrier, the child is at a greater risk of getting the disease (3). How Early-Onset Alzheimer comes about is there is a different single gene mutation that is shown on chromosome 21, 14, and 1. This will then cause abnormal proteins to form (4). The second type is Late-Onset Alzheimer’s which is the most common type that is seen. As of right know, researchers are unsure on what gene caused this type of Alzheimer’s. This is mainly seen in people in their mid-60’s. What effects this type is a gene called APOE 4. APOE 4 is a gene that is known as a risk factor because it most likely causes a person to develop a disease but that does not mean the person will get the disease

(3).
Alzheimer’s is a disease that destroys the brain and causes the brain tissue to shrink. What is happening to the brain is there are amyloid plaques that get in-between neurons (nerve cells). Amyloid plaques are proteins that the body creates. In a healthy body, these proteins tend to be eliminated unlike in a person brain who has Alzheimer’s, these proteins tend to become insoluble, hard plaques. In Early-Onset Alzheimer’s, memory lose is usually the first symptom. The cause of the memory loss is because there are cells in the hippocampus (part of the brain that controls memory, emotion, and the nervous system) that degenerate. This disease will slowly cause the person to be unable to perform daily task. Once the disease has spread to the cerebral cortex, people will experience more emotions, worsening in judgment, along with impaired speech. If the disease spreads to more of the brain, more and more nerve cells tend to die causing behavior issues. At the height of this disease, it can get to the point where the person is unable to speak, recognize people, feed themselves, and can also lose the control of body functions. People who have Alzheimer’s disease can live up to 8 to 10 year after they have been told they have this disease but it is also possible for someone to live 20 years. Memory at this point in the disease is very little or possibly there is no memory left ("The Progression 1-2").
Alzheimer’s disease can have a major impact on a person. People who have Alzheimer can go into a state of depression, they tend to go through many changes physically and mentally which can lead to depression along with many other effects. People can experience wandering, lack of socialness, change in behavior and many more effects (“Mayo Staff 2”). The brain is what does the controlling of how someone may act or behave. Some of the most useful skill do not last until the end of the disease, but everyone tends to be different. People who are affected by this disease are people who are older. Alzheimer is most commonly seen in people who are aging, but many have a higher risk of getting this disease after the age of 65. From there on, the changes increase more and more (4). People who have the greatest chance of getting Alzheimer’s are people with Down Syndrome, females, and people with head trauma. Alzheimer’s is commonly seen in people with Down Syndrome about 10 to 20 years earlier than the average person because they have an extra chromosome which increases the chance of having the disease. Women are also at a higher risk as well. Not much is said about why they have a higher chance but they do live longer than men which is the one of the causes (5). People who have suffered any severe head trauma are also at a greater risk of having this disease.
In today’s world, very little can be done to help Alzheimer’s.

Research is being done to see if there are any possible way Alzheimer’s disease could be cured. This disease is not preventable but there are ways to lower the chance of getting it. It is said that by lowering the chances of getting heart disease is the best chance to lower the possibilities of getting Alzheimer’s because the effect of heart disease typically means there is a risk for Alzheimer’s (6). By staying strong and staying active is someone’s lifetime is a way to reduce any chance of getting this disease. People need to stay strong socially, physically, and mentally. Staying on a healthy diet by eating food with low saturated fats and by using healthier oils. Although there is no way to prevent Alzheimer’s there are ways to increase the chances

(7).
Many signs and symptoms tend to come along with the disease. A very common and one of the first sign is memory loss, this is what most people tend to notice right away. They will notice that they are forgetting how to do a normal task, where they placed their items, forgetting the event, or people in their life ("10 Early 1”). Some also might experience forgetting how do plan or work with other because the brain isn’t developing as it should which can cause difficulties. The ability to speak is also another sign and symptoms. Some might be in the middle of a conversation but seconds later they forget what was even being said or they will tend to repeat frequently because they have forgotten what was already said. Putting word together can become very difficult at times (2). People will also tend to remove themselves from social activities because of the changes they are going through. They can also become more irritable, confused, or fearful because some tend to go through moodier stages or they are doing activities they may not be comfortable with (3). Some signs and symptoms of Alzheimer can be relating to symptoms of aging but Alzheimer’s tend to be on the higher level compare to the aging symptoms.
Alzheimer disease can change. This disease, I think, won’t ever have a cure. It affects so much of the brain and with the advancement we have today, the brain is so complex it’s difficult and very high risks just to perform surgery on. The brain is a very important and needed organ, but this organ can’t be damaged and fixed sometimes. People who have Alzheimer’s are effect drastically and some of us will probably never experience what this disease can do to someone. Life is all about living to the fullest so I think everybody needs to appreciate their life and what they have because these diseases can appear whenever. Never take life for granted before it’s too late.