Hca 240 Mental Illness Paper

“The human mind is a channel through which things-to-be are coming into the realm of things-that-are”, a notable quote from Henry Ford in 1930. The mind is a powerful thing. It has the ability to control our body in order to live, to talk, to share with others. Civilizations can be built, movements can start, governments can be constructed, etc. all because of the mind giving you a process. When there is a mental illness, it can make the process difficult. Alzheimer’s affects more than 5.2 million people today. Symptoms, myths, misconceptions, treatments are all fundamental in the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, and to hopefully prevent others from acquiring it in older age. * In 1906, Dr. Alois Alzheimer was the first one to recognize the abnormality of a brain affected with Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. With Alzheimer’s the connections between the brain cells deteriorate and die, which causes the memory loss. There are many myths surrounding Alzheimer’s disease. “It is a normal part of aging” is one of the biggest. While some memory loss is expected with aging, Alzheimer’s is concerned with a severe amount of memory loss. The severity can limit a person’s ability to perform daily tasks. “Older people are the only ones who get it” is one that seems to go hand-in-hand with Alzheimer’s being a normal part of aging. While the majority of those who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are between the ages of 65-80, there are cases where early onset can be detected as early as ones 40s or 50s. Past treatments included treating some of the symptoms because there was no known cure. Medication to treat depression and memory loss were able to help some of the symptoms, but some had seen cognitive effects because of this. * There are signs and symptoms that accompany Alzheimer’s disease. With memory loss, there are certain things to distinguish between normal memory loss and early

References: Human Diseases: A Systemic Approach, Seventh Edition, by Mark Zelman, Ph.D., Elaine Tompary, PharmD, Jill Raymond, Ph.D., Paul Holdaway, MA, and Mary Lou Mulvihill, Ph.D. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 14 http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers-disease/DS00161 http://nihseniorhealth.gov/alzheimersdisease/whatisalzheimersdisease/01.html http://www.notable-quotes.com/m/mind_quotes.html