Alzheimers Disease
Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer's Disease is a progressive, degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior (Internet). It is a degenerative disease affecting nerve cells of the frontal and temporal lobes of the cerebrum of the brain. The disease is the major cause of presenile dementia (i.e., the loss of mental faculties not associated with advanced age) and is thought to be the largest single cause of senile dementia as well (Britannica, 306). It causes the connections between cells to become ineffective and the cells themselves to shutdown and eventually die (Davies, 1). Alzheimer's is a progressive, irreversible, fatal neurologic disorder that affects an estimated 4 million American adults. It is estimated by 2040,approximately 14 million Americans will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Approximately 9% of the population older than 55 years and 20% of those older than 85 years have Alzheimer's Disease. The duration of AD averages 2 to 10 years but can be up to 20 years. By 1992, Alzheimer's Disease was the fourth leading cause of death among adults (more than 100,000 American deaths per year). It is projected that the number of people with Alzheimer's Disease will triple i
The disease is frightening and disabling (1356). Judgement about common everyday situations is drastically diminished. Immediate ("first-order") relatives of a patient with the disease have a great risk of developing the disorder themselves. Recent studies have shown that in the autopsies of the brain of people who have died from Alzheimer's, there is much higher concentration of aluminum than is normal (Weiner, 17). Only a physician can properly diagnose the person's condition, and sometimes are reversible. Initially, the victim may just exhibit a lack of energy, drive, and initiative, and neither he nor his family may be aware that anything is really wrong. As the disease progresses, he may gradually lose the ability to speak. Emotional symptoms, including depression, paranoia, and agitation, may occur intermittently. Neither is he able to comprehend what others say to him. Even if the diagnosis is Alzheimer's disease, help is available to learn how to care for a person with dementia and where to find assistance. Eventually though, lapses of memory will become debilitating (Weiner, 27). Although the symptoms may vary from patient to patient and from day to day in an individual, there are certain common features in all patients, and the disease follows a somewhat predictable path. This epidemic of dementia is not confined to sex, race, social, or economic class. Alzheimer's disease begins insidiously and progresses slowly but inexorably, until the sufferer cannot attend to the simplest details of self-care and may not even remember his or her name.
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