Alzheimers Disease Essay - 718 Words

Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s is a disease of the brain that causes a steady decline in memory. This results in dementia, which is loss of intellectual functions severe enough to interfere with everyday life. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting ten percent of people over 65 years old, and nearly 50 percent of those age 85 or older. My grandmother was diagnosed with â€Å"probable† Alzheimer’s disease over two years ago. After finding this out, I wanted to know more about this particular disease. Alzheimer’s disease usually begins gradually, causing a person to forget recent events and to have difficulty performing familiar tasks. How rapidly the disease advances varies from person to person.†¦show more content†¦Family history is another big factor. Having a parent or sibling with the disease increases a person’s chances of developing Alzheimer’s. Scientists have found one gene that raises Alzheimer risk as well as several faulty genes causing rare forms of Alzheimer’s that tend to occur before age 65. There are many affects of having Alzheimer’s disease. One of the most common is forgetting recently learned information. While it’s somewhat normal to forget appointments, names, or telephone numbers, those with Alzheimer’s will forget such things more often and not remember them later. They also find it hart to complete everyday tasks that are so familiar we usually don’t stop to think about how to do them. People with Alzheimer’s will also often forget simple words or substitutes unusual words, making their speech or writing hard to understand. People with Alzheimer’s usually have disorientation to time and place. They can become lost on their own street, forget where they are and how they got there, and not know how to get back home. They also have poor or decreased judgment. They may dress without regard to the weather or give away large amounts of money. Alzheimer’s causes people to have problems with abstract thinking. When balancing a checkbook they could completely forget what the numbers are and what needs to be done with them. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places: an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch inShow MoreRelatedAlzheimers Disease945 Words   |  4 PagesAlzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive neurological disease; it often attacks the brain tissues causing memory loss of one’s identity and regular behaviors. Statistics indicates that the rate of predicted people to get Alzheimer’s will increase briskly as time goes on. There are currently no cures for such disastrous disease, but there are currently approved treatments available that can help people within the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Once the disease is too far alongRead MoreAlzheimers Disease3170 Words   |  13 PagesThe Role of Caregiving to Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease Megan Zann April 27, 2012 Health Psychology Dr. Ackerman Introduction It is normal to periodically forget your keys or a homework assignment, because you generally remember these things later. However, individuals who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease may forget things more often, but they do not remember them again. The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease has dramatically increased because people are living longer. This is a result ofRead MoreEssay on Alzheimers Disease1503 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that gets worse over time. It leads to nerve cell death, and tissue loss throughout the brain. Over time, the brain shrinks dramatically, affecting nearly all its functions. 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Alzheimer’s is usually diagnosed in people over the age of 65, but in rarer cases people as young as 16 have it. Since it is a degenerative disease, patients develop it with few symptoms at an earlier stage, but thenRead More Alzheimer’s Disease Essay1176 Words   |  5 PagesAlzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s Disease is a disease of the future. With the growing aged population, this disease, which affects primarily the elderly, will become of increasing relevance to the medical profession. Also, the high frequency of Alzheimer’s, and the high cost in labor, money, and material of caring for its victims shall put considerable burden on the society as a whole. Here, however, these issues are not going to be debated. Instead the pathology of Alzheimer’s will be reviewed