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In the film, “The Alzheimer’s Project: The Memory loss tapes” there was an 87-year-old woman with Alzheimer disease named Bessie Knapmiller. It seems as Alzheimer runs in her family because her older sister has the same disease. Bessie sister is 93 years old and she has lost her entire memory. Bessie sister does not even remember their family members. However, Bessie stage of Alzheimer is not as bad as her sister, she still drives and still remembers people. At times, Bessie does forget others. Bessie went to take a memory test in May and few months later, when she returned she did not remember her doctor or him giving her the exam. When Bessie took her first memory test she could not remember the previous president before George Bush. She …show more content…
recalled remembering his face, but not his name. A few months later, she took a memory test again and the results indicated that she has memory trouble and that her memory loss has worsened. Bessie takes medication for her Alzheimer, in which she believes it is pointless because it will not cure her illness. Two things that were meaningful to me were how Bessie children felt about her illness and the way she forgot the few words that the doctor listed to her. The doctor listed approximately ten words to Bessie and she could only remember one and also listed a word that he did not say. Sadly, Bessie illness is difficult for her daughter because she lives near her and imagine not being able to engage in conversations with her. She knows that Bessie memory will continue to decrease as times passes. Knowing someone with Alzheimer disease is very difficult because they do not have good memory.
For instance, I have been working with my patient for about 2 years now and she does not still know me. She tends to ask me the same questions frequently, just minutes a part. My client name is Margaret and she is 95 years old. Margaret does not know the year or she lives at times. There are some days that she insists of going home, even though she is in her house. There are times when she wants to cook and speak upon an imaginary stove that is next to her. Sadly, it seems as Margaret remembers a few things from the past rather than from the presence. Margaret memory loss is very difficult for her children because they have to repeatedly remind her everything. A course concept that relates to Bessie case in the film was dementia. However, there are multiple different types of dementia. The type of dementia Bessie has is Alzheimer disease. She has progressive loss of cognitive functions. With this disease people tend to have lack of personality, attention and memory. Altogether, Alzheimer is a genetic disease; people tend to have this disease in their families. For instance, Bessie and her older sister both surfer from Alzheimer. Hopefully, there could be a cure for Alzheimer
disease.
Lisa Genova’s grandmother, who was 85 years old, had been showing signs of dementia for years; but she was a smart and independent woman who never complained, and she navigated around her symptoms. Her nine children and their spouses, as well as her grandchildren, passed off her mistakes to normal aging. Then they got the phone call when Lisa’s grandmot...
Even though she is an elderly woman, she is still a strong and an independent person: "Quickly he checked her apartment for any signs of memory loss or depression. He found none and immediately felt relief. The apartment smelled of soap and Lysol, the signs of an old woman who wouldn't tolerate nonsense." (p. 116).
It is never mentioned what his grandmother is suffering from but I’ve made the assumption that it’s something along the lines of Alzheimer’s- she doesn’t remember anything and has slowly withered away.
The story of Miss. Julianne took me to my childhood. When I was 13-14 years, my Nana was also suffering from dementia at that point. I was too young at that point to understand his situation, now in nursing I am learning about different diseases and how patients react to those particular situations, I can relate more to his pain and understand from what he was going through. As in the story Miss Julianne forgets things, as she said, “Where are my dentures?” (Lenar, K., 2016,), and she blames others, “and
Dementia is a long-term condition that normally affects people aged 65 and over, younger people can be affected. Having dementia can cause loss of key functions to the brain, such as; loss of memory; confusion; speech and language problems; loss of ability to make judgements; loss of concentration; difficulty in processing information; changes in behaviour and personality. These all lead to a person not been able to function properly. The person’s ability to function deteriorates over a period of time and is usually at least 6 months before positive diagnosis of dementia can be made. Dementia is caused when the brain is damaged by diseases such as Alzheimer’s which is the most common of dementia, vascular which is a series of mini strokes,
What is Alzheimer ? Is Alzheimer 's more difficult for the patient or for the patient’s siblings?
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:
Memory plays a significant role in the everyday lives of people of all ages. It allows them to recall information and remember skills that were learned in the past. Memory also organizes past information to help people make current and future decisions. However, imagine forgetting the names of close family members or not having the ability to find your keys every time you want to leave the house. These are some of the struggles that people with Alzheimer’s disease face daily. Alzheimer’s disease was first identified by German neurologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906, and was discovered to have an overpowering effect on explicit memory loss (Gruetzner, 1988). There are two types of Alzheimer’s disease – early onset and late onset. Early onset occurs in patients who are diagnosed before the age of 65 whereas late onset occurs in patients who are diagnosed after the age of 65. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, short-term memory is often lost. As Alzheimer’s disease progresses, problems with long-term memory begin to develop, in addition to short-term memory impairments. Although a lot is known about the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, the cause has not been conclusively identified. However, as research continues, new theories about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease are being proposed. This has led to a controversy over whether Alzheimer’s disease is caused by genetics or environmental influences (Gruetzner, 1988).
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
Dementia is the progressive deterioration and impairment of memory, reasoning, and other cognitive functions occurring as the result of a disease or condition. Dementia can affect the person’s ability to carry out daily activities. For example, the person may forget where they live or they might think they have already done their activities but never did. Dementia can also cause the elderly to become incontinent and can’t control their urinary system. Many people get confused that dementia is a disease. Dementia is not a disease. However, it can lead to a disease or condition. Dementia is more common in the elderly population. It’s normal for people to forget things, but to a certain extent it becomes a critical issue. Depression also plays a role in the affects of dementia. Studies have been made to believe that the biological mechanisms for depression relating to dementia is, “interactions with vascular diseases, changes in glucocorticoid steroid levels that can result in hippocampal atrophy, accumulation of amyloid-[beta] plaques, inflammatory processes, and lack of nerve growth factors” (Heser et al., 2013). Dementia is caused because of plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. This can also be known as Alzheimer’s Disease. Dementia is the leading cause for Alzheimer’s Disease in the elderly. For all dementia cases, 60 to 80 percent of people with dementia will have Alzheimer’s Disease. The disease has 3 different stages, the early stage, the middle stage, and the late stage. Each of those stages has a variety of symptoms that affects the memory impairment of the person (Wieregna, Bondi, 2011). Also relating to dementia is Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington Disease. These diseases can result in impairment, which can cause challeng...
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.
The participation in leisure activities, such as dance, is related with a reduced risk of development of dementia, both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia (Verghese et al., 2003). Dementia is “a general term that describes a group of symptoms-such as loss of memory, judgment, language, complex motor skills, and other intellectual function-caused by the permanent damage or death of the brain's nerve cells, or neurons” (Alzheimer’s Foundation of America [AFA], 2015, para 1). Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in persons over the age of 65, representing about 60 percent of all dementias. Dementia is specifically characterized by “different pathologic, or structural, changes in the brain, such as an accumulation of
Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia that affects the brain. There is no cure for it but many treatments. Alzheimer’s is fatal and there are few stages of dementia. It is the 6th leading cause of death, more than 5 million Americans have it, and 15,5 million caregivers gave around 17.7 billion hours of unpaid care that cost around $220 billion in 2013. In my family, my grandmother who is 86 years old has very early stages of Alzheimer’s. She started having symptoms when she was 81. My grandfather took most of the care of her but as he got ill my aunt Kathy took over. When my grandfather got ill and had to be in 24 hour care, we all agree to put my grandmother in assisted living care 10 minutes from one of my aunt’s house.
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.
Mykenzie Moyle Ms. Douglass English I, P.4 16 May 2014 Research Paper 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 keeping up with 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.