Alzheimer\s Disease Essays - Cognitive Disorders, Free Essays

Alzheimer?s Disease Alzheimer?s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer who discovered the disease in 1906 after studying the brain tissue of an elderly woman who died of an unusual mental illness. It is a serious disease which causes mental deterioration and eventually death. Alzheimer?s disease is ?a progressive degenerating process of neural tissue? (Black). The symptoms of this disease can be slowed with certain treatments, but cannot yet be prevented or cured. Although not an infectious disease, Alzheimer?s is still very prominent in the world. Forty-five percent of people who are eighty-five and older have Alzheimer?s disease (Alzheimer?s). Also, the number of cases of Alzheimer?s is rapidly increasing. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) states that, ?experts suggest that as many as 5.1 million Americans may have Alzheimer?s disease? and that there are ?200,000 individuals under age 65 who have younger-onset Alzheimer?s? (NIH). Alzheimer?s is also the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. While other diseases? mortality rates are declining, Alzheimer?s mortality rate has gone up by sixty-six percent in the past eight years alone (Alzheimer?s). According to the NIH, scientists do not yet understand what causes Alzheimer?s. However, they do believe that Alzheimer?s develops due to a complicated series of events in the brain. The cause of Alzheimer?s is thought to be a mix of factors having to do with genetics, environment, and lifestyle. It is interesting to note that recent studies have shown that African Americans are actually at a higher risk of getting Alzheimer?s than other races. This may be due to the fact that African Americans have a higher rate of vascular disease, which is one of the risk factors of Alzheimer?s (African). Women also are more susceptible to this disease. As the NIH states, ?Because people differ in their genetic make-up and lifestyle, the importance of any one of these factors in increasing or decreasing the risk of developing Alzheimer?s may differ from person to person? (NIH). This makes finding a cure for Alzheimer?s all the more difficult because so many factors can affect it. Alzheimer?s is categorized in four different levels of severity: Early, Mild, Moderate, and Severe. During the Early Alzheimer?s stage, the patient has a decline in certain aspects of cognition such as word-finding, vision/spatial issues, and impaired reasoning or judgment. Some other symptoms may include: depression, social withdrawal, mood swings, distrust in others, irritability, aggressiveness, changes in sleeping habits, wandering, loss of inhibitions, and delusions, such as believing something has been stolen (NIH). Later, in the Mild Alzheimer?s stage, memory loss and other cognitive abilities worsen. A person with Alzheimer?s may have problems such as getting lost, trouble handling money and paying bills, repeating questions, taking longer to complete normal daily tasks, poor judgment, and mood and personality changes. As it progresses even further into Moderate Alzheimer?s, damage occurs to parts of the brain that control language, reasoning, sensory processing, and consciou s thought. Memory loss and confusion will worsen even more, and the patient will have trouble recognizing familiar people (NIH). The NIH says that, ?[The patient] may be unable to learn new things, carry out tasks that involve multiple steps (such as getting dressed), or cope with new situations. They may have hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia, and may behave impulsively? (NIH). By the time the patient reaches the final stage, Severe Alzheimer?s, the brain tissue will have shrunk significantly. According to the NIH, ?People with severe Alzheimer?s cannot communicate and are completely dependent upon others for their care. Near the end, the person may be in bed most or all of the time as the body shuts down? (NIH). Alzheimer?s vastly affects the daily life of a patient and his or her family. A person with Alzheimer?s will be very limited in the things that most people consider normal, daily tasks. As stated above, they will have trouble communicating with other people, and memory loss will take away most of or all reliability from them. They will also lose the ability to drive safely, as they will be more likely to get lost, will have a harder time turning, or may drift out of their lane more often (Driving). Their family and friends will also be greatly affected