Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Alzheimers disease is emerging to potentially become the largest medical problem facing the elderly in the 21st century. Right now, an estimated 4.5 million Americans are known to have the disease (Understanding Alz.).
A poorly understood illness, Alzheimer’s gradually steals away its victims mental and physical abilities, leaving them in a chronic out-of-mind state. It can last for an indefinite period, and as a result has a significant impact on all those close to the victim. The disease, by gradually taking away the mind and personality of the sufferer, leads to behaviors that can be extremely difficult to manage, and very frustrating to family and caregivers. Few people genuinely understand what Alzheimer’s is, its true affects, and how it affects those around the victim.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder that has no known cause or cure. There are many different terms for symptoms of forgetfulness and loss of mental clarity; the most well known is Dementia. The term Dementia comes from two Latin words meaning away and mind, and it is used by doctors to specify an acute loss of, or impairment of, mental control (Mace and Rabins 15).
Alzheimers is the most common form of permanent Dementia (About Alz.).
Dementia and Alzheimer’s are not the same things. Many different conditions are known to cause Dementia, not all of them affect only elderly people, and not all are fatal.
The Essay on Alzheimer’s disease and its affect on the nervous system
This article relates to Alzheimer’s disease and its affect on the central nervous system. According to Guy (2005), “Alzheimer’s disease is a disorder that over time destroys ones memory and disables their ability to learn, make judgments, communicate, and participate in daily activities.” This disease has been growing more and more every year. It eventually leads to death resulting from its ...
Alzheimer’s is a unique syndrome that systematically kills swaths of the brain, causing Dementia in the process. Contrary to popular belief, Alzheimer’s is always fatal. Much like AIDS, the immediate cause of death is often a complicating condition, such as pneumonia, but the actual cause of death is the illness (Mace and Rabins 140).
Memory change is normal as people age, but Alzheimer’s symptoms are more than misplacing car keys and forgetting grandkids names. People afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease experience difficulties in virtually every aspect of cogitative reasoning (Understanding Alz.).
Alzheimer’s patients have extreme difficulty performing very familiar tasks, and eventually are unable to perform motor skills learned in early childhood. The thought process affects everything from eating to communicating to breathing. Even the smallest task requires an incredible amount of thought.
If the brain misses just one step in the process, the task will not be performed (Mace and Rabins 23).
Along with their memories, Alzheimers patients judgment is also compromised as the disease progresses. They may dress inappropriately for the season, they may give away money, or they may insist on buying things they do not need (Understanding Alz.).
For those suffering from Alzheimer’s, simple daily care can, and does, become an ordeal. Effortless things that ordinary individuals take for granted, such as eating, can become nightmarish experiences for both the patient and their caregivers. Mealtimes often explode into fierce confrontations because the patient doesnt understand and tries to resist (Mace and Rabins 68).
Forgetful people will often simply forget to eat, even if food is left in plain sight. Once again, the effortless act of eating takes intricate thought. An Alzheimers patent may not recognize food as edible; they may not be able to choose between two different items, they may not remember what to do with food, or how it gets in their mouth. Many times they will simply forget that they are hungry. If they do eat, they may hide food in odd places, throw it away, or eat rancid food (89).
The Essay on Why Do Bad Things Happer To Good People
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? These two questions have bewildered mankind throughout the centuries. Even the greatest philosophers and theologians have yet to develop a concrete answer. Philosophers, theologians, and even religious leaders have developed many hypotheses. Some of these hypotheses support each other while others conflict. It is for ...
Bathing and personal hygiene are also major obstacles for those suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Bathing actually means that the patient must think about, and remember, many things all at once: undressing, unbuttoning, finding the tub, turning on the faucets, and climbing in the tub. Combined with feelings of insecurity without their clothes, and their loss of privacy, the whole thing is usually overwhelming. Often times the person is fearful of water, and the easiest way to react is to refuse to bathe (Mace and Rabins 30).
The fact that past generations often didnt bathe and change clothing as frequently as we do now complicates the problem (79).
Alzheimer’s victims are steadily reverting backward mentally; bathing brings out this fact fully by completely exposing the persons loss of independence and inability to think clearly. People with dementing illnesses often suffer from a multitude of other health troubles, which can range from relatively mild problems to serious conditions (Mace and Rabins 99).
Alzheimer’s patents are at constant risk of falls, pressure sores, dehydration, pneumonia, and constipation, among other things.
Because they simply dont know theyre in pain, or cant communicate what theyre feeling, demented people often allow illnesses to fester into life threatening conditions. They are also prone to major dental problems, vision problems, and hearing difficulties (105).
Medication presents a mixed blessing because the patient often is unable to relate side effects which may themselves cause serious problems. For caregivers and family members, the odd things Alzheimers patients do can be the most distressing aspect of the illness (Mace and Rabins 119).
Most people suffering from Dementia put things down and forget about them, or they hide or gather things and forget where they put them. They may hide food, dirty clothes, money, and various odds and ends in odd locations (133).
Also, a patients behavior sometimes becomes belligerent and downright mean.
They make unreasonable demands and appear stubborn and uncooperative. They may insult their loved ones and make inappropriate comments for no discernable reason. These behaviors can be very frustrating and hurtful to family and caregivers, especially because they do not appear to be caused by the illness and look like plain meanness. In addition, false ideas, suspicion, paranoia, and hallucinations are also common occurrences. Often times people with Alzheimer’s develop unyielding ideas that things have been stolen from them, that people are out to harm them, or that dead relatives are coming to see them (155).
The Research paper on Running Head Immunotherapy For Alzheimers Disease
Running head: IMMUNOTHERAPY FOR ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE Immunotherapy for Alzheimer's Disease August 03, 2009 Immunotherapy for Alzheimer's Disease Introduction The ability of vaccine strategies to provide effective treatment for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease is still not examined appropriately. Both passive and active immunotherapy strategies have proven effective reduction of ...
Alzheimer’s always has more than one victim because those who love the person with the disease suffer tremendously as well.
The daily stress and the constant worry can, at times, become unbearable. Family members who have a loved one with a chronic dementing illness are often overwhelmed by many conflicting emotions. They feel sad, discouraged, tired, angry, depressed, and alone (Mace and Rabins 205).
A study from the New England Journal of Medicine found that taking care of a relative with Alzheimer’s is so grueling that nearly three-quarters of those who do it are relieved when their loved one dies (Study).
Alzheimer’s disease is the nations leading cause of the chronic condition known as Dementia. Dementia causes the loss of intellectual abilities, which in turn leads to physical incapacities. That process is joined with other problems: impaired abstract thinking, disturbance of higher brain functions, such as the ability to name objects, or drastic personality changes (Sloane).
Living in a time when there is a pill or treatment for everything from acne to baldness, it is very hard for people to accept a disease that has no known cause and, so far, no cure.
So much is still unknown about the disease that the only official way to diagnose Alzheimer’s is by observation of brain degeneration at autopsy (About Alz.).
I have no doubt that in the future we will be able to combat and defeat this dreadful disease. Until that time comes, people should realize that any person is at risk for developing this disease at some point in their life. Works Cited About Alzheimer’s. (2004): Sept. 23 American Health Assistance Foundation.
The Term Paper on Alzheimers Disease 5
Alois Alzheimer was the first man to discover Alzheimers disease. Before this discovery, the illness was classified as insanity. There is now a more sensitive understanding of this disease. Alzheimers is a disease that slowly, but surely, causes one to lose his memory. Symptoms are simple like one not being able to remember where he placed his keys. Slowly he begins to forget names and telephone ...
23 Sept. 2004. . Mace, Nancy L., and Peter V. Rabins. The 36-Hour Day. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.
Sloane, Philip D. Forward. At the Heart of Alzheimer’s. By Carol Simpson. Gaithersburg, MD: Manor Healthcare Corp, 1996. Study: Caregivers often feel relief after Alzheimer’s death. St. Petersburg Times 12 Nov. 2003, sec.
2A. Understanding Alzheimers Disease. (2004).
Alzheimers Association. 23 Sept. 2004 ..
