Alzheimers Disease The Old Timers Disease

Do you know Ronald Reagan? Or do you know Harold Wilson? They are both one of the most important in their own country. Ronald Reagan is one of The United tates !residents and Harold Wilson is one of "ritish !rime #inisters. Right after that$ ha%e you e%er noticed about the cause of their death? They dead because of &l'heimer(s disease. &l'heimer(s disease is a disease that emerged from dementia that occur in older people. "ased on O)ford *nglish Dictionary$ dementia is a serious mental disorder caused by brain disease or in+ury that affects the ability to think$ remember and beha%e normally$ and sometimes$ emotional disturbance and personality changes. &l'heimer(s disease$ also known as &D or The Old Timers( Disease$ is a chronic$ progressi%e disorder that use age as the principal risk factor. &D usually come up after ,years of age and the incidence doubles e%ery . years after ,. years of age. /n worldwide$ more than 0. million people suffered &D that lead to death in less than 1- years after diagnosis. "ased on The 2ew *ngland 3ournal of #edicine$ e%ery year there are 1$45. new cases emerged per 1--$--- persons and in The United tates by mid6century$ the pre%alence will reach 10.4 to 15.- milion cases as the aging population increases. The etiology of &D including se%eral factors such as age$ genetic inheritance$ lifestyle and many other factors. &D usually begins in the age of ,- and the risk is getting higher as you get older. 7enetic inheritance gi%es a little higher effect to the risk of de%eloping &D as a few families with a %ery clear inheritance of the disease from one generation to another. Research has also shown that lifestyle affect the de%elopment of &D as people who smoke$ ha%e high blood pressure$ high cholesterol le%els or diabetes are at increased risk of de%eloping &D. &ll of those factors may lead to abnormalities in your brain such as loss of neurons$ protein abnormalities$ inflammation and o)idati%e damage. ynaptic failure$ depletion of neurotrophin and neurotransmitters$ mitochondrial dysfunction and worst of all brain death may also present in this disease. &s &D is a progressi%e disease$ which means that gradually o%er time$ parts of brain will one by one damaged$ the symptoms will become more and more se%ere. The symptoms of &D are8 1. #emory deterioration and e)perience problems in finding the right words. 4. Recent and past memory loss. 2ames of people$ places$ appointments and recent e%ents may be forgotten by the patient.

0. /ncreasing memory loss$ beha%iour and mood disorders. The &D patient may feel sad$ angry$ scared and frustrated. They may e)perience mood swings too. 9. :ack of confidence to communicate. The patient may become more withdrawn from the society. .. The &D patient may e)perience difficulty in carrying out e%eryday acti%ities$ such as pu''led checking their change at the shops or become unsure about how to use radio. &lthough those symptoms may occur in &l'heimer(s Disease case$ but each person may e)perience different &D in different ways. &s a caregi%er of &D patient$ sometimes taking care of &D patient will make them pu''led and confused. This happened because &D patient may do e%erything they want as they lost the control of their body and their mind ha%e deteriorated. They may eat in a weird way$ defecate e%erywhere instead of at the right place and scold or e%en hit someone without a reason. That(s why the caregi%ers$ in this case family member$ should be patient and put themsel%es in the &D patient(s place in which &D patient cannot control themsel%es$ they do the action unconsciously. Till now$ there is no effecti%e treatment for the se%ere &D$ but for mild &D$ study showed that treatment can ha%e a good result. Drugs can be used to slow down the progress$ lessen or stabili'e symptoms for a limited time. Those drugs are &ricept$ *)elon$ Reminyl$ etc. Other treatments are still under research. /n conclusion$ &l'heimer(s Disease is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory$ beha%iour and thinking and this is not a normal part of aging. This disease is a non6 communicable disease and pre%ention can also be made to stop or to lessen &D in the early stage. We can pre%ent the disease by ha%ing a healthy diet$ doing physical e)ercise routinely$ social acti%ities and do some intellectual acti%ities such as playing chess$ etc. References8 #edline!lus ;n.d<. Alzheimers DiseaseI. Retrie%ed 2o%ember 41$ 4-11$ from http8==www.nlm.nih.go%=medlineplus=al'heimersdisease.html /liffe$ te%e > Rusted$ 3enny. What is Alzheimers Disease. Retrie%ed 2o%ember 41$ 4-11$ from http8==www.al'heimers.org.uk=site=scripts=documents?info.php? document/D@1-&l'.org ;n.d.<. Medications for Memory Loss. Retrie%ed 2o%ember 41$ 4-11$ from http8==www.al'.org=al'heimers?disease?standard?prescriptions.asp

&l'.org ;n.d.<. Prevention. Retrie%ed 2o%ember 41$ 4-11$ from http8==www.al'.org=research=science=al'heimers?pre%ention?and?risk.asp Auerfurth$ Henry W. > :aBeria$ Brank #. ;4-1-<. &l'heimer(s Disease. The New En land !o"rnal of Medicine. Retrie%ed 2o%ember 44$ 4-11$ from
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra0909142