Cancer

3 Pages 685 Words

Alzheimer’s Disease is a brain disorder which gradually destroys the ability to reason, remember, imagine and learn. It’s different from the mild forgetfulness normally found in older people. Over the course of the disease, people with Alzheimer’s no longer recognize themselves or much about the world around them. Depression, anxiety, and paranoia often accompany these symptoms. Although there is no cure, new treatments help lessen Alzheimer’s symptoms and slow it’s progression. Alzheimer’s is marked by abnormal clumps and knots in the brain cells. For reasons not fully understood, these abnormalities tangle and take over the brain tissue and effects the area of the brain associated with intellectual function. Over four million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s. Slightly more women than men have Alzheimer’s disease. While the disease usually affects those over 65 years of age, a rare and aggressive form of Alzheimer’s can happen in some people in their 40’s and 50’s. Alzheimer’s disease progresses slowly, taking between three to 18 years to advance from the earliest symptoms to death; the average duration of the disease is eight years. Death does not result from the disease itself but from some secondary illness such as pneumonia or urinary tract infection. Stages of Alzheimer’s: · At the very beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease it is marked by simple forgetfulness, especially of recent events or directions to familiar places and in some cases, personality changes. · The next stage of the disease is characterized by greater difficulty in doing things that require planning, decision making and the use of judgement. Eventually, people with Alzheimer’s can’t do simple daily tasks to live such as eating, bathing and using the toilet. They may also lack interest in personal hygiene and appearance and lose their sex drive. They may have a hard time recognizing everyone except those t...