Alzheimer’s DiseaseAlzheimer’s DiseaseOver 4 million people in the U.S. alone have Alzheimer’s disease. This is an irreversible brain disorder with no known cause or cure. Most people have heard about it or quit possibly have a family member with this disease. This disease affects the use of language, thinking and remembering anything from your name to where you live. After a person has this disease for a while, it may seem as if the condition is getting progressively worse and the person may have a hard time dealing with money, cooking or using the phone. Alzheimer’s disease can be mistakenquite often for just normal aging, when this happens it may not be treated as early as it should be.This disease does not have a specific group that it targets; it is widely common among all races but it most likely to be in people age 85 and older. Approximately 1 in every 10 people over age 65 have Alzheimer’s and 5 in every 10 over age 85 and older have Alzheimer’s, these are astonishing numbers. This disease is one that effects a ridiculous amount of people in the UnitedStates alone, with more research that has to be done, hopefully one day we will be able to understand more about why this disease acts and occurs in the ways that it does.There are many general symptoms that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease: confusion, disturbance in short-term memory, problems with attention and spatial orientation, personality changes, language difficulties and unexplained mood swings. There are 3 main stages that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the first being called the mild stage. This stage is when the memory starts to slowly deteriorate. The short-term memory is what usually is lost first, this included things such as forgetting appointments, a phone call with a close relative, the names of well-known objects or a recent event. This stage usually lasts about 2-3 years, and while in this stage it is still possible for someone to live on your own with little help. As the years wear on thesigns become more obvious for close friends and family to see. The second stage is called the moderate stage. In this stage there seems to be the need for relying on others around you for help. Tasks such as getting dressed or cooking meals becomes much more difficult. Feeding andbathing may be close to impossible. The frustrations with this disease start to take a toll on the person because they feel as if they have lost control of their selves and their self-care skills. Emotional outbursts are a usual sign that the person is becoming more frustrated and fearful of the disease that is attacking them from the inside out. The last stage is called the severe stage. This stage is by far the worst stage of them all. Complete loss of fending for your self is lost. Tasks such, as feeding yourself is an impossible one even if the utensils and food is sitting in from of them. Because of this weight loss is a common symptom of stage 3. Controlling bowelsand bladders can also become a difficult task. At this stage many times loved ones place their family member in the hands of other people such as at nursing home. They patients often feel as if they are in a bubble, no one and nothing around them makes any sense at all. From the onset of Alzheimer’s people may live for as long as 7-10 years, but it is not unlikely that they live for up to 20 years. As stated before, there are no known cures for Alzheimer’s. But there are specific treatments and drugs that may help aid in dealing with the disease. Cognex and Aricept have been proven by the Food and Drug Administration to help in the therapy of this disease. These drugs are cholinesterase inhibitor that means that they inhibit the breakdown of acetycholine by blocking the action of cholinesterase, the key enzyme in the breakdown of acerylcholine. Cognex and Aricept increase the level of acetylcholine in the brain. These drugs are not a cure.There are at least 17 other drugs for treating Alzheimer’s that are waiting approval from the USFDA. Besides prescription drugs there are other alternative treatments such as Vitamin E, thisis thought to protect nerve cell membranes from damage of harmful chemical process called oxidation. Also, “A controversial surgical treatment for Alzheimer’s has been reported by Dr. Harry S. Goldsmith at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. He places part of the omentum, a fatty membrane in the abdomen which holds organs in, on the brain. This has been shown to improve short-term memory in Alzheimer’s patients, perhaps because of a chemical in the omentum. Further research is warranted to explain how (and if) this surgery works (Kuwana).” Also, staying active such as playing your favorite sports, doing puzzles and continuing to learn has been though to help bridge the connection that may other wise to lost. By why does all of this happen, people shouldn’t just forget their own name. A neurologist in 1906 named Alois Alzheimer was the first person to perform an autopsy on a woman who kept becoming more and more confused many years before her death, what he found would change the medical field forever. He found plaques and tangles in her brain. These plaques and tangles interfere with neuronal functions. Although the plaques and tangles are found in everyone’s brains why isit that it affects some people more than others, or is it just a part of growing old? The tangles that are formed are called more specifically neurofibrillary tangles or NFT, these form inside a neuron. Researchers are still unsure about how they form but believe a protein called tau helps in this process. If you were to see one of these tangles it would look like a rope with a knot in it. The plaques on the other hand are formed on the outside of the neuron. Plaques are mainly composed of a protein called beta amyloid. We know that a protein called amyloid plays a significant part in Alzheimer’s. We all have this protein in our brains but as we get older too much of it is formed and this is when it takes the name beta amyloid, when there is too much of this forming in the brain this is when it is starting to form a plaque. More or less too much of a good thing can eventually be very bad for our brains. Research is still being done to try and conclude this information. A picture of a brain that was not affected by Alzheimer’s shows that that brain has more activity and less
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