Dareen Mohd

Alzheimer s Disease
Introduction: Alzheimers disease is a type of dementia;
dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. This disease occurs in the Nervous System that attacks the brains nerve cells or neurons and as the disease gets worse, the whole brain becomes affected and slowly shuts down. It results in memory, thinking and language loss and predominantly aims at people aged 65 years and older.

Known causes: Alzheimers isnt a disease that all elders get, although it is a very
common disease for that age. There are not many known causes as to why people might get Alzheimers disease. Doctors are not absolute as to what causes the disease but in some cases they assume its in your genetics, they call it Familial Alzheimer's disease. It is caused by any one of a number of different single-gene mutations; each of these mutations causes abnormal proteins to be formed. In other cases they believe abnormal structures (tangles) form in the brains nerves cells that build up over time and interfere with the cell connections. These tangles cause the nerve cells to get damaged or die, this can lead to vital parts of the brain to stop a persons ability to remember names, everyday activities etc. There are some theories out there that state Alzheimers can be triggered by your lifestyle habits. They say that if you eat correctly, exercise and control stress at an earlier age (30-40 years old) you will have a healthy brain meaning less a chance of getting the disease.

Symptoms: Alzheimers disease is one of those many diseases that doesnt show sudden
symptoms, it builds up over time, meaning people close to you wouldnt notice it straight away. These symptoms include the most common, memory loss. The memory loss caused by Alzheimers involves difficulty remembering recent events or names, losing or forgetting

Dareen Mohd
where an object is and repeating the same story or sentence over and over again as they forgot what just happened or what was just said. The symptoms also include mood changes and personality changes. The disease makes the brain go through all sorts of states such as being happy one minute and angry the next all for no apparent reason. The disease can also cause you to make silly, inappropriate or illogical decisions this varies from money to paranoia all the way to sexual urges. All of these symptoms slowly progress until there are very few nerve cells left causing your body to shut down.

Treatments available: Sadly Alzheimers has no available cure to treat the disease.
Scientists all over the world are trying to find a cure for this terrible disease so many people have been hit with. Although there are some drugs said to slow down or pause the disease but not stop it such as, Cholinergeric drugs which provide some improvement in cognitive functioning for the mild- moderate Alzheimers cases. Doctors suggest plenty of supervised physical activity to keep the body strong and reduce depression. The popular types of physical activity are walking, swimming, aerobics, yoga, dancing and even gardening and housework.

Long term outcomes: The short term and long term effect of Alzheimers disease in
everyday life is listed in stages 1 to 7. Stage1: The body and the mind is functioning normally and there are no shown symptoms. Stage2: There is a very mild cognitive/metal decline the only shown symptoms is minor memory lapses and forgetting some words. Stage3: At this point there is a mild cognitive/mental decline which will mean family and friends may begin to notice difficulty in remembering names and losing or misplacing objects. Stage4: Now there is moderate cognitive decline which is when the symptoms become more obvious. Stage5: moderately severe cognitive decline, causing memory gaps and needing aid in day to day activities such as cooking or cleaning. Stage6: Then there is severe cognitive decline which means your memory worsens and personality begins to get altered. Stage7: The last stage is very severe cognitive decline. This is the final stage of the disease which is when you lose your ability to respond to your environment, carry a conversation and control movement. This disease can last up to 9 years or more, but sadly Alzheimers disease ends with death.

Dareen Mohd Bibliography:

Website: Early Alzheimer's Disease Awareness, 2011 Early Alzheimer's Symtoms, Roche, accessed 1 August 2013, http://www.earlysymptomsalzheimers.com/early-alzheimers-symptoms

Alzheimer's association, 2013 Seven stages of alzheimer's, Strategic alliance partners, Chicago, accessed 5 August 2013, <http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_stages_of_alzheimers.asp?gclid=COWrup3t5LgCF WRfpgodY1kAmQ>.

Fight Alzheimer's Save Australia, 2013 Is there treatment available?,Alzheimer's Australia, Australia, accessed 5 August 2013, <http://www.fightdementia.org.au/understanding-dementia/alzheimers-disease.aspx>.

Alzheimer's Disease Health Center, 2013, N/A, accessed 5 August 2013, <http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/understanding-alzheimers-disease-basics>.

National Institute on Aging, 2011 Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Fact Sheet, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, USA, accessed 5 August 2013, <http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/alzheimers-disease-genetics-fact-sheet>.

Book: Izenberg, Neil. Human Diseases and conditions. New Yorl: C. Scribners sons, 2000. Print.