Alzheimers

1 Pages 353 Words

Alzheimer’s disease

I. I intend to increase my audience’s knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease.


A. Dementia is a brain disorder that seriously affects a person’s ability to carry out
daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia among older people. Alzheimer’s disease affects the parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. About 4 million Americans suffer for Alzheimer’s disease. On average the disease begins after age 60 and the risk goes up with age. About 3 percent of men and women ages 65 to 74 have Alzheimer’s disease, and almost half of those age 85 and older.


II. Alzheimer’s disease, a brain disorder that affects over 4 million people.

A. I am going to talk about three aspects of Alzheimer’s disease.
1. Causes
2. Symptoms
3. Treatment

B. What causes Alzheimer’s disease?
1. Scientist do not yet fully understand what causes Alzheimer’s disease.
2. There is no one single cause, but several factors that affect each person differently.
a. Family history is a risk factor.
b. Genetics may play a role in some cases.
3. Scientist also are studying education, diet, environment, and viruses to
learn what role they might play in the development of Alzheimer’s.

C. Symptoms of Alzheimer’s and the stages of the disease patients go through.
1. At the start of Alzheimer’s the only symptoms may be mild forgetfulness.
a. People with Alzheimer’s may have trouble remembering recent events, activities or the names of familiar people or things.
b. Simple math problems may become hard to solve.
2. As the disease goes on, symptoms are more easily noticed and may
become serious enough for family members to seek medical help.
a. For example, in the later stages of Alzheimer’s people forget how to do things like brushing their teeth or combing their hair.
b. They may no longer be able to think clearly and may have ...