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Different Stages of Alzheimer's By Kristina Law | Submitted On June 18, 2015 Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook 1 Share this article on Twitter 1 Share this article on Google+ 1 Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon 1 Share this article on Delicious 1 Share this article on Digg 1 Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest 2 There are many questions people have when it comes to Alzheimer's disease. What causes the disease? Can it be prevented? How is this disease diagnosed? It is hard to know everything about the disease but this article helps break down certain aspects of it. With the Alzheimer's disease, it slowly progresses through three different …show more content…
This is called the preclinical Alzheimer's disease which can last for many years for a person. You will not be able to notice any changes nor will those around you. The only way that you will be able to identify Alzheimer's at this stage is with imaging technology. By being able to identify this early could help with new treatments that are being discovered with …show more content…
As this stage continues to progress, it will get to the point where they will need a greater amount of care. A person within this stage will start confusing words, acting in unexpected ways, or becoming frustrated and angry toward themselves or others. There is also damage to nerve cells happening in the brain. During the moderate stage of Alzheimer's, people grow more confused and forgetful and begin to need help with daily activities and self-care. Some noticeable symptoms are: - Forgetfulness of ones history or own telephone number - Changes in sleep patterns - Confusion about what day it is or where they are - High risk for wandering and becoming lost - Need help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing and grooming. Severe Alzheimer's Disease (Late-Stage) This is the final stage of the three. Within this stage, they lose the ability to carry a conversation, respond to their environment properly, and control movement. As their cognitive skills and memory worsens, their personality changes and they require help with daily activities. At this stage, they may still be able to communicate but communicating their pain to someone becomes difficult for them. In the severe stage of Alzheimer's, mental function continues to decline and the disease has a growing impact on movement and physical capabilities. At this stage they
Alzheimer’s disease is like many other diseases; early detection is best because deterioration of the brain cells can be delayed. (Greutzner, H) Alzheimer’s disease has a tremendous effect on the lives of those who live with the disease. Forgetfulness is just one of the symptoms that Alzheimer’s disease causes. Alzheimer’s disease ranks as the most common cause of dementia in the elderly population.
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
While the average life expectancy of the world’s population has increased, the number of detected dementia cases has commensurately risen to astonishing levels. Along with improved discovery of this disorder, new causes and treatments have been found, from which many innovative techniques have been developed towards the prevention of future incidences and reduction of the effects of this condition; however, the quest for these solutions have raised more questions than it has answered. Why do some develop this disorder, while others do not? Can early detection be achieved to reverse the processes or limit its effects? Further specifics on these topics have been categorized into three main sections, which include:
Alzheimer's affects people in different ways, each person will experience symptoms or progress through Alzheimer's stages differently.
Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed before age 65, although rare, and is caused by a mutation in 3 known genes. About 5 percent of those who are under 65 and possess the ailment have AD in their family history. Given that the symptoms of AD are caused by plaque in the brain, causing loss of nerve cells that help the body communicate with the brain, mutations to these genes; amyloid precursor protein, presenilin 1, and presenilin 2 cause a excessive production of certain proteins (primarily a B-42 form of amyloid protein), and therefore spark an excessive growth of plaque cells which are toxic to the neurons of the brain. For those cases of Alzheimer’s that occur after age 65, a genetic mutation has yet to be proven, although some may be linked, to the fact that a difference may cause an increased chance of developing the ailment. Whatever the case may be for patients over 65 years old, the disease and its symptoms are caused by neurofibrillary tangles of almyloid plaques. It is impossible for someone to test positive for Alzheimer’s Disease, because the only way to determine an affirmative case i...
People with dementia may have problems with short-term memory, keeping track of their belongings, keeping up with plans, remembering appointments or travel dates. Many dementias are progressive. This means that symptoms start out slowly and gradually get worse with time. Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia are diagnosed based on careful medical history, a physical examination, laboratory tests, and the characteristic changes in thinking, day-to-day function and behavior related to each
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia which is a brain disorder that impairs mental functioning. Dementia attacks the part of the brain which controls memory, language, and thought. It makes everyday tasks like remembering to brushing your teeth, or to pay your bills next to impossible to do, which is why so many people who are diagnosed with this disease are in complete care. This disease has different phases, the first being slight forgetfulness and then the persons emotions may heighten as well as language impairment, violent outbursts, loss of bladder control and from there it keeps getting worse until complete dysfunction of the brain occurs and eventually death, which most of the time is the result of infection.
Well no one knows exactly the development of this debilitating disease of the brain. But recent advances have produced several clues as to why. how it is born. Initially when we study the brain of an Alzheimer's victim, we focus on two specific areas. One is the cortex of the frontal and cerebral.
Depression. Alzheimer’s. Autism. Stroke. Each of these words correlates with negative connotations. They afflict the mind, snatching away members of society like a ghost in the wind, leaving empty, damaged shells in their wake. Days drag into a dull grey blur, mental capacities weakening with each moment. For decades, medical researchers, working tireless hours with stark determination, have committed themselves to finding the cures to these and many more diseases that affect the brain. These scientists leapt over obstacles, ducking under impossibilities to see the clear picture, the clear goal. They refused to stop before discovering treatments that took the form of chemical drugs. Despite this, these treatments come riddled with side effects, strong chemicals alleviating some symptoms while bringing more into play. So research continued. Now, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has risen as a potential treatment for various mental disorders. Although many chemical drugs have spelled relief for countless victims of depression and bipolar disorder, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation stands strong as the most effective treatment for mental disorders because of its influential effect on multiple disorders, minimal display of side effects, low potential for weaponization, and high capacity to surpass chemical drugs.
Additionally to the facts about Alzheimer’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease is not only one process; there are three stages of Alzheimer’s disease: mild, moderate and severe. In the mild stage, sufferers usually experience: short term memory loss, have small moods changes, get lost and slowly lose the ability to do tasks. Also, changes in the brain may begin almost 2...
The first sign of Alzheimer’s is memory loss, followed by personality changes and then progresses to loss of control over bodily functions. These changes happen over a long period of time. The early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the symptoms are not immediately present but the patient starts to suffer from short memory lapses (e.g. forgetting faces of familiar people).
A myth about Alzheimer disease says that nothing can be done about the disease. This is not true. Much can be done to assist the person with Alzheimer’s disease to maintain the highest possible level of functioning as long as possible and in providing the highest quality of life.
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.
The clinical picture in dementia is very similar to delirium, except for the course. Delirium is an acute transitory disorder. By contrast Dementia is a long term progressive disorder (with the exception of the reversible dementias). The course of AD can range anywhere from 1.5 to 15 years with an average of about 8.1 years (Terry , 1988). AD is usually divided into three stages mild, moderate, and severe. Throughout these stages a specific sequence of cognitive deterioration is observed (Lezak, 1993). The mild stage begins with memory, attention, speed dependent activities, and abstract reasoning dysfunction. Also mild language impairments begin to surface. In the moderate stage, language deficits such as aphasia and apraxia become prominent. Dysfluency, paraphasias, and bizzare word combinations are common midstage speech defects. In the severe stage the patient is gradually reduced to a vegetative state. Speech becomes nonfluent, repetitive, and largely non-communicative. Auditory comprehension is exceedingly limited, with many patients displaying partial or complete mutism. Late in the course of the disease many neuropsychological functions can no longer be measured. Also primitive reflexes such as grasp and suck emerge. Death usually results from a disease such as pneumonia which overwhelms the limited vegetative functions of the patient.
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.