Person With Alzheimer's Disease example essay topic

Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer sAlzheimer's Disease Essay, Research Paper Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease that usually begins gradually, causing one to forget familiar tasks and recent events. The rate of advancement varies from person to person, but this brain disease eventually leads to confusion, impaired judgment, plus personality and behavioral changes. Communication becomes a great task when the person struggles to find words, finish thoughts, or follow simple directions. Most people with Alzheimer's eventually get to the point where they can no longer care for themselves. The Alzheimer's Association has come forward with a list of the ten warning signs of Alzheimer's. It is common for some to express a few of these signs, but if several of them are exhibited, a complete examination by a physician is recommended.

The first sign is memory loss that inhibits job skills. It's completely normal for one to forget an assignment, a colleague's name, or deadline, but frequent bouts of forgetfulness or unexplainable moments of confusion at the workplace and even at home can signal that something is wrong. The person has difficulty performing everyday tasks. Someone who is busy may get distracted from time to time, but someone who has Alzheimer's has this problem more often.

For example, they may leave something cooking on the stove for too long, and might even forget that they had cooked something in the first place. Third, is problems with language. A person with Alzheimer's can forget simple words, such as dog or sink, or may substitute inappropriate words, making his or her sentences hard to understand. One may have a poor or a diminution of judgment. It would e a common mistake to forget to bring along a sweater or jacket on a cool night. A more serious mistake that someone with Alzheimer's would make is wearing several shirts on a hot and humid day or perhaps wearing a bathrobe to the grocery store.

Someone with Alzheimer's will likely have problems with abstract thinking. Balancing a checkbook can be difficult for many, but a person with this disease can find it impossible. A problem with misplacing things in uncommon places is another sign. An example would be putting away shoes in the refrigerator or placing a wristwatch inthe sugar bowl – and then will not remember how they got there in the first place. A change in mood or behavior is the eighth sign. People with Alzheimer send to have rapid mood swings for no apparent reason.

Ninth, is a change in personality. People's personalities change, but a person with Alzheimer's can change dramatically. This can happen either suddenly or over long period of time. Tenth and last is a loss of initiative. A person with Alzheimer's disease may become disinterested and uninvolved in many or all of his or her usual pursuits. Each year, scientists are uncovering more and more clues as to what causes this disease, which is helping to produce more accurate diagnostic tests and better treatment options for people with Alzheimer's.

In the last year alone, much has come through about the factors that may lead to the onset of Alzheimer's. There have been notable findings from two chief studies that have improved our understanding of plaques and tangles in the brains of individuals with this affection. These findings may eventually lead to the development of treatments to slow the effects of the disease process. There has been the discovery of a lesion characteristic found in Alzheimer's patients.

This lesion, named AMY plaque, may play a part in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease. Investigation into this finding could help researchers to further understand the disease process and how intervention therapies may be designed. Studies of the inflammatory processes of the brain and the role of oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease have led to the preliminary indications of the beneficial use of anti-inflammatories, such as ibuprofen, and anti-oxidants like vitamin E, in treating or slowing the progression of the disease. Several of the other lines of ongoing research of this disease include: genetic factors related to the onset of the disease, Ab protein and senile plaques, the role of estrogen in the brain, neurotransmitter deficiencies and dysfunction in brain cell communication, inflammation and its effect on brain activity, and oxidative stress and its effect on brain cell processes. There are as many as four million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer disease, and, as the aging population continues to grow, this number can easily reach fourteen million by the middle of the next century if no cure of prevention is found. 32d.