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Informative Speech Paper
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Alzheimer’s disease is a sad and devastating disease mostly found in elderly men and women. There isn’t a cure as of now, even with today’s modern medicine and I know first-hand what it’s like to know someone with this disease.
My grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s around 2 years ago and it has progressed rapidly since then. I live next door to my grandparents and on weekdays I usually have to stay home until my uncle gets off work for when my grandmother calls which is usually twice a day when my grandfather tries to get out of the house.
Around 13% of older Americans have Alzheimer’s, and I’m going to share with you what Alzheimer’s is and what it’s like.
I’m going to explain what Alzheimer’s is, early signs and treatment, and effects of Alzheimer’s on a person and the people around them.
Alzheimer’s disease is a very complex disease so it’s best to start with what Alzheimer’s is.
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative neurological disorder, which means that brain cells continuously die over time. 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s and every 68 seconds someone is diagnosed with it. It is in the top 10 causes of death in the world, and the only non-treatable cause in the top 10. People have been known to live with Alzheimer’s from 3-20 years, while the average amount of time is 6-10 years. In 2012 over 200 billion dollars was spent on health care and long term care for people with Alzheimer’s. In 2011 over 15 million immediate family or other relatives or friends worked unpaid at an estimated 17.4 billion hours valued at over 210 billion dollars’ worth of care. In the early stages, people begin to notice small lapses in their everyday memory such as to make coffee in the morning that they have done every day for years or even how to make coffee. In the middle stage, people begin to forget names of close loved ones, see hallucinations, become very emotional and lose the ability to care for their selves. In the final

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