Upon doing research on the disease I learned that Alzheimer's disease is perhaps the most common form of dementia, although several others exist. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease of the brain. In the early stages, people experience some memory loss which progresses to marked memory loss, then to a decrease in thinking ability such as decision making. Later the disease leads to the loss in the ability to perform activities of daily living or recognize loved ones. The changes in the brain that often mirror the decline in thinking are the development of plaques and tangles in the brain. These changes may begin in areas of the brain associated with memory, but later spread more widely throughout the brain. The plaques and tangles can lead to a gradual loss of connections between brain cells and eventually cell death.…
In Alzheimer’s disease, two abnormal proteins build in the brain. They form clumps called either “plaques” or “tangles”. These plaques and tangles interfere with how brain cells work and communicate with each other. The plaques are usually first seen in the area of the brain that makes new memories.…
In 1901, Dr. Alois Alzheimer began observing a patient named Auguste D. Auguste began behaving more and more bizarrely after developing an intense suspicion about her husband. She would hide objects, become lost in her own home, start screaming loud insisting that people were out to murder her. Dr. Alzheimer found Auguste confused lines when she read, repeated single style labels many times when she wrote and used odd phrases when she spoke. When Auguste died in 1906, Dr. Alzheimer performed an autopsy on her brain. The autopsy revealed damage and cell death had shrunk the tissue. The nerve cells contained a “tangled bundle of fibrils”. From this observation Dr. Alois termed the disease after himself calling it Alzheimer’s disease. Tangles and plaques are the 2 most important pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease.…
Alzheimers - is a physical disease that affects the brain. There are nore than half a million people in the UK with the disease. Alzheimers is progress when a build up of proteins in the brain lead to a loss of connection between the nerve cells. This itself causes the death of these nerve cells and the loss of brain tissue. People with alzheimers also suffer from a shortage of chemicals in their brain. Thesse chemicals are used to transmit signals around the brain. Where there is a shortage the signals are not transmitted effectively. This causes the person to have confusion over places and time and also issues with thinking and memory loss.…
Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common causes of dementia. The term 'dementia' describes a set of symptoms, which can include memory loss, changes in mood and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms occur when certain diseases and conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, damage the brain. Alzheimer's disease could be described as a physical disease affecting the brain. During the course of the disease, protein 'plaques' and 'tangles' develop in the structure of the brain, leading to the death of brain cells. People with Alzheimer's may also have a shortage of some important chemicals in their brain. These chemicals are involved with the transmission of messages within the brain.…
Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people with Alzheimer’s, symptoms first appear after age 65. During the preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s disease, people are free of symptoms but toxic changes are taking place in the brain. Abnormal deposits of proteins form amyloid plaques and tau tangles throughout the brain, and once-healthy neurons begin to work less efficiently.…
Alzheimer's disease, first described by the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer, is a physical disease affecting the brain. During the course of the disease, protein 'plaques' and 'tangles' develop in the structure of the brain, leading to the death of brain cells. People with Alzheimer's also have a shortage of some important chemicals in their brain. These chemicals are involved with the transmission of messages within the brain. Alzheimers is a progressive disease which means that over time more parts of the brain are damaged. As this happens the sypstoms become more severe…
“ Alzheimer’s disease first described by the German neurologist Alois Alzheimer is a physical disease affecting the brain. During the course of the disease protein plaques and tangles develop in the structure of the brain, leading to the death of brain cells.…
Around the turn of the century, two kinds of dementia were defined by Emil Kraepin: senile and presenile. The presenile form was described more in detail by Alois Alzheimer as a progressive deterioration of memory and orientation. As a neuropathologist, Alzheimer studied the case a 51 year-old woman. When she died, Alzheimer performed an autopsy and found that she had deterioration of the brain, protein deposits and abnormal filaments in nerve cells in her brain -- three common pathological features of those who have Alzheimer’s Disease.…
Alzheimer's is a strange and mysterious illness. There are many frequently asked questions that must be answered.…
Alzheimer's is a disease of the brain that causes a loss in memory. This results in dementia, loss of brain functions (thinking, remembering, and reasoning) severe enough to interfere with everyday life. When German physician, Alois Alzheimer, first described the disease in 1907, it was thought to be rare. Today, Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting 10% of people 65 years old, and nearly 50% of those age 85 or older. An estimated four million Americans have Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's disease usually begins gradually, causing a person to forget recent events and to have difficulty performing familiar tasks. How quickly the disease advances differs from person to person, causing confusion, personality and behavior changes, and impaired judgment. Communication becomes difficult for Alzheimer's patients. They struggle to find words, finish thoughts, or follow directions. Eventually, people with Alzheimer's become unable to care for themselves.…
* Early onset AD: Symptoms appear before age 60. This type is much less common than late onset. However, it tends to get worse quickly. Early onset disease can run in families. Several genes have been identified.…
Alzheimer’s disease is the number one form of dementia in the United States today. The more this disease progresses the worse it gets because there is no cure for it at this time. Most people do not show signs or symptoms of this disease or even get diagnosed until about age sixty-five. There is also no known cause for this disease and mostly people want to link Alzheimer’s to being hereditary. Mr. Speed will require secondary care especially in this case because Mr. Speed is barely in the early stages of the disease. When his disease progresses even more and is in the final stages, which can be five to ten years from now, maybe sooner, he will then require tertiary care.…
A German psychiatrist and neuropathologist discovered Alzheimer’s disease in 1906; his name was Alois Alzheimer. Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia, and the most common one at that. It develops differently for every individual, but…
a. What impact do you think Alzheimer’s disease has on the patient’s family and/or caregivers?…
