Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is neurodegenerative disease that affects patient's cognitive abilities (Tabloski, 2014). AD is the most common type of dementia, accounting for eighty percent of all dementia diagnosis (Tabloski, 2014). AD is irreversible, progressive, and there is no cure (Biercewicz, Filipska, & Kedziora-Kornatowska, 2016). The purpose of this post is to describe what I have learned after watching, the Frontline documentary, Living Old. I will discuss what I did not previously know, what I found surprising, and what piece of information I will take back to my nursing practice.…
How can a disease erase years’ worth of memories? How can a disease make someone forget their family and friends? The toll taken on the author and her family was heavy, but the toll taken on her father was undoubtedly substantial. Alzheimer’s is only one among an uncountable number of setbacks that can happen in life, but it is how one overcomes the deterrent in their life that truly matters. Cherish the little moments in life because nothing is as it was previously and will never be the same…
Not only does Alzheimer's disease create emotional turmoil, it also greatly affects the financial status of families. Families have to pay for the intense care required for this disease. Having people "move to a nursing home to receive 24-hour care, the financial cost to families is great: an estimated $78,000 per year" (Benjamin, 2013, par 3). Since the individual with the disease cannot function normally, they are in need of a great deal of help. Many nursing homes hold a great deal of Alzheimer's patients since they do not remember how to do many tasks.…
It is detrimental not merely in the workplace but in the bank as well because the cost of caring for Alzheimer’s patients are over $30,000. The emotional suffering for the carer of an Alzheimer’s victim is destructive. Caregivers have reported high levels of psychological issues such as depression, suicidal thoughts, guilt, and stress. Alzheimer’s causes social expense in the caretakers affecting relationships in every aspect of their lives. The physical damage can cause adverse effects on the family and caretakers.…
The process of the disease is painted in a far more gruesome light than most people anticipate. I did not realize to what extent that the disease just keeps taking away. People normally do not take into consideration how the family reacts. In Still Alice, the audience sees a strong husband slowly chip away, a frequently verbally assaulted and invaded daughter that is trying her best to assist, and two other children who help when they are around but distance themselves from the afflicted. When you think of Alzheimer’s disease, you really only consider the patient and their main care giver, but the audience now has a greater understanding of the bigger…
Dementia very unpredictable so those who may come in contact with Person A may be more on edge, because they really do not know what state of mind she could be in. They might be more distant because they do not want to get or hover over her because they do not want her to hurt herself or someone else. Her family feel the need to have outside help and/or place her in a home where she could be monitored. Some people may treat Person B with pity, they would be shocked about her diagnosis and sympathy for her and her children. Person C is a pastor of a large denomination church and because of that Person C may be questioned by some people.…
The Forgetting 1.) Alzheimer’s disease essentially takes away who you are as a person. Alzheimer’s takes away the personality and memory of a person with the disease. The symptoms of Alzheimer’s begin when the synapses are disrupted. Plaque forms between nerve cells and blocks communication.…
The term dementia is an umbrella term which refers to a loss of cognitive functioning. This may include deficits in processes such as memory, reasoning, language, executive functioning and thinking, all leading to a reduced ability to participate in activities of daily living (NIH.gov). Forms of dementia include: vascular dementia (dementia caused by cerebral vascular injury, often stroke), dementia with Lewy bodies (caused by abnormal deposits of proteins in the brain), Alzheimer’s dementia (the most well-known and common form of dementia), frontotemporal lobar degeneration (including Pick’s disease and primary progressive aphasia), dementia associated with Huntington’s disease, and finally, dementia associated with Parkinson disease.…
We have lived with Alzheimer's for as long as we can remember, and with some caveman remains appearing to belong to people in their seventies, it is very likely that Alzheimer's has been a part of human life since human life began. But today we are facing it far more seriously than ever before. With increases in life expectancy and more respectful treatment of people with mental ailments, we are beginning to see the havoc caused by Alzheimer's and are making increasingly great efforts to understand it, help patients cope with it, and cure it. Although we used to think that all dementia was equal and that Alzheimer's and dementia were normal aspects of ageing, we are increasingly seeing that this is not true.…
Being the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S makes Alzheimer’s a common disease among older adults. Alzheimer’s is a continuous neurological disease that affects an individual’s memory, orientation and judgement. While damage begins to spread throughout the brain many abilities are lost. Cells lose the ability to perform these functions and end up making irreversible changes to the individual’s brain. Since Alzheimer’s is also a form of dementia it worsens over time.…
Much improvements in healthcare have contributed to people living longer and healthier lives so the proportion of adults reaching old age has been increasing worldwide. A clearly negative effect of aging has resulted in an increase in the number of people with dementia. World Health Organization (WHO) estimated a total number of people with dementia worldwide in 2010 was 35.6 million and projected to nearly double every 20 years, and 115.4 million in 20501 (WHO). Dementia commonly symptoms with memory loss at the initial stage and later often followed by the loss of other cognitive functions such as language and perception (Walker, Salek, Bayer, Walker, & Bayer, 1998).…
Alzheimer’s disease has a drastic impact on the human population, being one of the most common causes of death. With research less funded than cancer, there are many gaps to be filled. The cure to the disease has not been found yet, however, it is not feasible for me to accomplish such task. I began to look into the causes of Alzheimer’s, and found that research has died down in this area.…
Alzheimer’s Disease “Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that occurs gradually and results in memory loss, unusual behavior, personality changes, and a decline in thinking abilities that cannot be reversed.” (1) About 7 years ago when I was 8 years old my mom and my uncle started noticing my grandma forget things. They took her to the doctors and they discovered she had dementia. Dementia is very similar to Alzheimer’s disease.…
While aging, no one wants to be told that they have Alzheimer’s due to the difficulties and challenges that one must face. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s disease is not only common among the elderly, but it is also a “major problem, its prevalence among older people should not be exaggerated” (Moody and Sasser 2015, 143). That is, “Alzheimer’s disease is irreversible and generally foreseeable in its course” (Moody and Sasser 2015, 143). Taking care of an Alzheimer’s patient includes training, medical knowledge, and time. For this reason, “taking care of persons with the disease living in their own homes usually becomes impossible.…
Alzheimer’s is a deadly disease which cannot be slowed, cured, or prevented. Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disorder where memory loss and steady cognitive decline is caused by the death of brain cells. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, which causes this disease to be the sixth leading cause of death in the United States according to the Alzheimer’s Association. People with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers should be informed of their diagnosis so can plan ahead and make good financial and medical decisions, so they can make use of their final days, and so they can take the opportunity to make amends with those they have wronged. Alzheimer’s patients need to know what the future holds so they have the opportunity to plan out future financial and medical complications.…