Symptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease Essay

At 16 years old, I listened carefully as my grandmother described in detail her daugher who lived in Utah with 4 girls, one of those being myself. Though it seemed her memory was very clear on the subject, she did not realize that I was one of those 4 girls. My grandma has Alzheimer’s disease. She started showing mild signs of it around the age of 75 and it has slowly progressed over the years. Now, 10 years later her memory is almost completely gone. Alzheimer s disease is an irreversible, abnormal, progressive deterioration of the brain that causes victims to steadily lose the ability to remember, reason, and comprehend (Wardlaw 719). At first it may start with things such as: forgetting important dates or events, repeating oneself multiple times, or needing reminders more often than usual. Eventually it may progress to experiencing challenges in completing simple tasks, difficulty concentrating, and confusion. Geriatric psychiatrist, Robert Santulli states, â€Å"Alzheimer’s disease involves loss of short-term memory but also other things like the ability to express yourself with language, the ability to perform certain routine tasks like getting yourself dressed or operating a piece of equipment. It has a lot of emotional symptoms that can go along with it as well such as depression or anxiety, sleep disturbance, agitation, and so forth† (Santulli). At the beginning, I remember my grandma as we drove to a hike as king â€Å"Where are we going?† to which my grandpa would patientlyShow MoreRelatedSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease1063 Words   |  5 Pagesthe effects of Alzheimer’s disease, many of these treat the symptoms but not the cause. One specific medication, cholinesterase inhibitors is not fully understood but it is believed to help decrease the breakdown of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter (About Alzheimer s Disease: Treatment, n.d.). Cholinesterase is both beneficial in it’s aid in treatment and not— this medicine over time causes neurons not to produce as much acetylcholine (About Alzheimer s Disease: Treatment, n.d.). This drug worksRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease920 Words   |  4 PagesAlthough there is no cure for Alzheimer’s there are ways to treat this disease. Certain medications may help lessen the symptoms, such as memory loss and confusion but only for a limited amount of time. The Food and Drug Admin istration have approved the following types of medications: cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine, both of these medications treat the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer s disease. (Office) Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s advances the patient’s brain cells progressively die andRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease1780 Words   |  8 Pagesof Alzheimer s disease, the first thing that comes to mind is memory loss. This is something that may affect a family member, a close friend, a coworker, or someone dear to our heart. Currently, there is no cure for it, yet due to extensive research, there are more treatment options for it. The available medications that have been approved by the FDA can possibly slow the progression of the disease, but it is a temporary benefit. Research is ongoing and recent developments in treatment hasRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease1930 Words   |  8 Pagesneurodegenerative disorder Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is currently the most common cause of dementia and affects millions of people around the world. ¹ There are multiple risk factors associated with AD, including genetic factors, hypertension, diet and most significantly, age. Individuals over the age of 65 are most vulnerable to the disease and at this point, the risk increases every 5 years. ¹ Alzheimer’s Disease was first described over 100 years ago by Alois Alzheimer in Germany, characterising the firstRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease911 Words   |  4 Pageshas found out that her grandmother had passed away from Alzheimer’s disease after she was diagnosed prior to moving into a nursing home. She is currently in good health from recent records of her physical from last year. Her past medical history includes a broken pinky finger in 2005, a hyper extended knee in 2010, and a sprained thumb from early 2015. All three of these cases were fixed and the patient is not looking for treatment for any illness at the time. Patient reports that she is eating a well-balancedRead MoreSymptoms And Treatments Of Alzheimer s Disease1592 Words   |  7 PagesAlzheimer’s disease. It was devastating to hear, especially not knowing what to expect, and only having information and ideas based on stereotypical behavior. I am familiar with some of the characteristics of a person living with AD, (Alzheimer’s Disease), however I really do not know what to expect as the disease progresses. My goal with this research paper is to develop my understanding of the disease as a caretaker, and find alternative treatments to go along with his current medical treatment plan.Read MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease2254 Words   |  10 Pagescommon is that they’re aware of who they are and what they want to accomplish, well for the most part that is. There are many people living in this world with a disease called Alzheimer’s, which is a very deadly and mysterious disease. Alzheimer’s is a type of Dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. This disease is a progressive cognitive disorder that deteriorates brain cells eventually to the point of destroying them. This kind of deterioration leads to memory loss asRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease1220 Words à ‚  |  5 PagesThere are many diseases and disorders in the world that can attack a human’s body and destroy certain organ systems in the process. In this paper, you will learn about a particular disease that has been studied by many scientists and doctors for decades. Research hospitals such as Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins University have studied Alzheimer’s disease in order to come to conclusions on what the disease is and what can cure the disease. This disease can cause critical damage to a human’s body fromRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Alzheimer s Disease2077 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"According to doctors in the early 20th century anyone over the age of 65 who marked a sign of confusion was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (Bair, 5).† AD is form of dementia. â€Å"It is also a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with a mean duration of around 8.5 years between onset of clinical symptoms and death (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).† Th e medicine and science related to dementia and AD specifically has evolved a long way to develop strategies to encourage the healthy altitude of the brainRead MoreAlzheimer s Disease : Symptoms And Treatment Of Dementia1482 Words   |  6 Pagesolder will be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. There is other subsets of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease being one of the most well known. With the skyrocketing increase of individuals suffering from dementia will come the need for more intervention and prevention projects to help the number of individuals suffering from all forms of dementia. Even though there is an umbrella of different forms of dementia, dementia it self is a term used to describe a disease that is chronic, progressive, and terminal