Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) was named after German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Dr. Alois Alzheimer who discovered the first known case of what he then called “presenile dementia”. AD is the most common neurodegenerative disease. AD is a progressive illness that destroys certain functions of the brain such as memory and thinking abilities. The disease is the major cause of dementia among the elderly. An estimated 14 million people are expected to have AD by the middle of the twenty-first century.
The cause of AD is not well documented and remains unknown, research believes it is associated with neurological tangles and amyloid plaque buildups in the brain. AD usually starts with the person forgetting where they put things, forgetting appointments or even becoming lost easily. Both short-term and long-term memory become affected. A person with AD will eventually not be able to recognize family and friends or perform daily living tasks. The youngest person documented with AD was only 28 years old. One of the most famous people to develop AD was Ronald Regan (the 40th President of the United States).
There is no known treatment for this horrific disease but there are medicines that have been approved by the FDA that may slow the progression and ease the symptoms of AD. Though, the medicine that slows the progression of the disease works best if the disease is found early. AD on average lasts 8-10 years. Death by this disease is typically from malnutrition or a secondary infection such as pneumonia or heart disease. Malnutrition is caused when a person does not intake enough calories to support the normal functions of the body. Those who become malnourished are also more prone to getting an infection.
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I have firsthand experience with AD starting with my grandma. She went from forgetful to completely oblivious of others and her own past within about two years. I went to visit her not even a year after she started to display the first signs and she didn’t even know who I was. I told her I was her grandson and she stated I don’t have any. In the months to follow she would quickly begin to forget who even her husband was. Leaving my grandfathers memory behind she now only knows her brothers and sisters are. She went thru several stages of malnutrition. Now day she lives in a nursing home as she can easily become hostile and forgetful. She went from chief health inspector in butler and one of the smartest people I’ve ever met to the memory of a child in 2 years.
Work Cited
- Alzheimer’s disease. (2003). In K. F. Kiple (Ed.), The Cambridge historical dictionary of disease. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://bc3.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/cupdisease/alzheimer_s_disease/0?institutionId=2672
- Alzheimer’s disease. (2004). In W. E. Craighead, & C. B. Nemeroff (Eds.), The concise Corsini encyclopedia of psychology and behavioral science (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Retrieved from https://bc3.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileypsych/alzheimer_s_disease/0?institutionId=2672
- Stone, A. M. (2014). Alzheimer’s disease. In T. L. Thompson, & T. L. Thompson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of health communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from https://bc3.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sageheltcomi/alzheimer_s_disease/0?institutionId=2672
- Alzheimer’s disease. (2004). In K. J. Carlson, S. A. Eisenstat, & T. D. Ziporyn, New harvard guide to women’s health, the. Harvard University Press. Credo Reference: https://bc3.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/hupwh/alzheimer_s_disease/0?institutionId=2672
- Wells, K. R., Mertz, L., & Oberleitner, M. G. (2015). Alzheimer’s disease. In Gale (Ed.), The Gale encyclopedia of senior health: a guide for seniors and their caregivers (2nd ed.). Gale. Credo Reference: https://bc3.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galegsh/alzheimer_s_disease/0?institutionId=2672
