A Look Into Alzheimer

’s Disease Essay, Research Paper

The reason that I chose Alzheimer’s Disease as the disease that I will report on is because I felt

that it is very interesting and common within people over the age of sixty. I believed that I if I need a great

deal about this disease, I would understand more about why so many people have become devastated by it.

A good friend of my Grandfather’s also had the disease but he has passed away. I do know however, that as

soon as it was understood that he had the disease, he had to begin to change the way his life worked

significantly. For one, he really couldn’t go outside alone and he couldn’t do much without his wife by his

side. He had to stay home most of the time dreaming about imaginary things and repeating stories over and

over again. His memory gradually receded and he began to lose control of bodily functions such as his

ability to feed himself or to communicate with others. After seven years of painful suffering, he died.

The symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are rather easy to distinguish and classify. Patients of the

disease lose much of the information that they have recently learned and cannot learn anything new. They

begin to constantly misplace objects, often repeat themselves, and usually become confused in simple

situations. When in relatively simplex places patients may become lost or even forget where they are.

Psychologically however, patients begin to become depressed most of the time and be anxious or confused.

Some become restless and can barely ever sleep.

The cause of the disease, although not completely proven, is strictly genetics. It is passed down

from generation to generation and that is one reason why it is so common among older people. Four percent

of persons 65 to 74 years old are affected; ten percent of those 75 to 84 years, and twenty percent of those

85 years or older! It is however, remarkably rare among younger and middle aged people.

The treatments and medications for Alzheimer’s Disease are rare. The only legal medication in the

United States is Tacrine, a drug that modifies the course on which Alzheimer’s runs to make the patient’s

life last a little longer. Treatments of this disease are also very simple. Ways to keep patients on track and

not too depressed about their state of being is to keep them feeling as though everything is normal and to

make sure that they do everything like routine. At first, patients can be kept at home for a few years, but

after many years and gradual loss of ability to control themselves, they must be taken to a nursing home

where they will spend the remainder of their lives.

Certain health agencies and networks that help infected people and their families exist. Such of

these are:

For Families

Irvine Multiservice Center

17200 Jamboree Rd., Suite E, Irvine, CA 92713

(714) 724-6650

Family Service Association

18001 Cowan, Suites C & D, Irvine, CA 92714

(714) 660-8020

There is no known way to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease except to eat right and to be a healthy

person. Although this doesn’t guarantee that you will be excluded for the disease, your chances are much

slimmer.

My own personal plan to reduce my risks for this fatal disease is to stay healthy and to maintain a

nutritious diet with plenty of exercise. If it came to be that I was infected with Alzheimer’s, I would start

setting guidelines for myself and my family on how to take care of me. I would start by involving them in

my daily routine schedules of staying healthy such as taking a walk outside or trying to learn new things. I

would make sure that my family took the best care possible of me so that I could live my life to the fullest.