What Is Alzheimer's Disease?

Great Essays
A look at Alzheimer’s disease One of the things that terrify people the most about aging is no remembering your loved ones or forgetting the great adventures you had in your youth. Unfortunately there are many cases of people who establish a disease called Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is taking the lives of many people and directly affecting their families. People who have never heard of Alzheimer’s have many questions, they want to know what Alzheimer’s is , what causes it, what are the biological factors that are involved in this disease and of course are there any cures! However finding all these answers can be difficult but they can get a glimpse of what Alzheimer’s does and how they can help themselves to prevent this …show more content…
There may be no cure but there are treatments for Alzheimer’s disease currently there are five drugs that have been approved to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Two drugs that work on treating all stages of Alzheimer’s disease and are donepezil and rivastigmine. There are two others that treat mild forms of Alzheimer’s and are tacrine and Galantamine. However only one drug that treats only severe cases of Alzheimer’s and that drug is Memantine. How these drugs mechanically work on patients with Alzheimer’s is impressing to read. There are only two procedures that help treat Alzheimer’s the first being Cholinesterase inhibitors, this drug works by slowing the simple process of disrupting down main neurotransmitters, which are donepezil, galantamine, rivastigment and tacrine. The second mechanism is a receptor called NMDA which stands for N-methyl-D-aspartate. This method works by controlling glutamate. This neurotransmitter is involved in memory and new learning. The reason glutamate is important is because glutamate docks to the cell surface called NMDA which allows receptors and calcium to enter the …show more content…
Alzheimer’s can start 20 years before signs start to appear like loss of speech, inability to learn new material, and loss of memory. One of the things to blame for Alzheimer’s is the production of A β amino acids and how the over production of 40 or 42 amino acid residue can build up to form these Plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that are damaging to the cell at may be directly linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately there is no cure yet for Alzheimer’s but there are ways to prevent it as well. Patients must not forget that nutrition is important for those who have Alzheimer’s, maintaining a well-balanced diet and exercising regularly can aid and possible prevent anyone from getting Alzheimer’s disease. As long as your heart is racing and is pumping fresh blood filled with oxygen your brain won’t be able to produce plaques and tangles. Treatment and prevention are the only passage ways to stop Alzheimer’s from accruing to anyone at an early

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Although dementia lacks a cure, treatment can help improve some functions. Different types of treatment are given depending on the stage of the illness in a person and its cause. Treatments that help with the progressive forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer's, include drug treatments. These drug treatments may improve symptoms temporarily, and non drug treatments may help alleviate some symptoms. Research to find new cures of dementia needs funding and more volunteers to participate in clinical studies so that we may one day hold the cure to…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    More than about three million people in the United States are diagnosed with Alzheimer. Alzheimer is a disease that destroys memory and other important mental function in your body. This disease is a form of dementia that has an effect in older people. There is no cure for this disease but there are treatments for this. However, Scientist won't give up to find the cure of this disease.…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alzheimer's Acronyms

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Research (40 points): Name of the CD; include acronym or other referenced names, if applicable (1 pt.) There are many different names and acronyms used for Alzheimer’s. The most common names, also the names used in Still Alice, are Alzheimer’s disease or Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD). Some other names include Alzheimer’s Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Syndrome. Etiology (1 pt.)…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Alzheimer’s is most known because of it is unpredictable effects it has on different people. It is overwhelming confusion in today’s medicine field leaves experts speculating and wondering what this condition is truly capable of in terms of destruction of the mind and body. This disease’s history, symptoms, and treatments all apart of what makes this disease so horrifying, wondrous, and confusing. History…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alzheimer’s is an irreversible disease that has been preying on minds and families for years. The disease causes the brain to decay. It kills nerve cells and causes tissue loss. If have been living with the disease for a long period of time, the brain will reduce in size as well. There is also plaque everywhere.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alzheimer's Inequality

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages

    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.…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alzheimer's Brain Disease

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that slowly and progressively destroys memory cells in the brain and other types of brain cells. Today Alzheimer’s threatens the health system and about five million Americans. Death in Alzheimer’s has climbed up to fifty five percent. They say statin drugs are supposed to reduce the risk of stroke and cholesterol, but they actually increase the risk of dementia. The way that people live now is causing research to say that we will continue to die from Alzheimer’s.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being at the last stage of life and reminiscing on its most precious moments is what we all count on as we head towards that age before death. However, present day there have been exponentially more cases of Alzheimer’s which deters over 5 million people in the U.S. alone from reaching that ideal stage. Alzheimer’s runs in my family. When my grandfather passed away 4 years ago from it I knew I had to do everything in my power to impact change, to make a difference no matter how small in finding a cure. A cure for a disease that is undeniably encoded in my father and at high risk of being encoded in my brother’s genetic makeup as well as my own.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s trouble about 5.4 million Americans and it is the 6th leading cause of death in the US. Psychotic manifestations include delusions and hallucinations it is certain that the existence of Psychotic manifestations can lead to mental hospitals. By 2050 it is said that it will reach up to 11 to 16 million will be effective, right now, only about 4 percent are under the age of 65 years old African Americans and Hispanics are prone to get this awful disease. Alzheimer’s gets worse over time it is not an aging, disease, but it is true the older you get you are likely to get Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s starts evolving in your brain where you form memories.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alzheimer’s disease (AD), was discovered as senile form of dementia in early 1907 by Alois Alzheimer in 1907. Since then the disease has been researched and studied to generate a knowledge base of symptoms, etiology, pathogenesis, treatment and management of the disease. AD is differentiated from senile dementia due to the neurodegenerative process which involves deposits of protein known as amyloid in neurons and neurofibrillary tangles which form plaques. This formation of plaques leads to neuron death and the hardening of tissue leads to progressive and terminal neurological disease state. There has been no cure to Alzheimer’s disease to the complexity of disease and the lack of understanding of amyloid protein and its process.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible brain ailment that destroys physical and mental functioning in people. This disease leaves its victims helpless and incapable of living; however, recent research suggests new treatment advancements are giving victims and their families’ new hope. Alzheimer’s disease progresses in stages of mild, moderate and severe. Alzheimer’s affects its victims with a permanent form of dementia that almost always results in death. People…

    • 1964 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that destroys memories and other important mental functions. At first, someone with Alzheimer’s disease many notice mild confusion and difficulty remembering. Eventually people with this disease may forget important people in their lives and go through dramatic changes. This disease is the most common cause for dementia- a group of brain disorders that cause the loss of intellectual and social skills. Early-onset Alzheimer’s is often caused by a genetic mutation while late-onset Alzheimer’s usually comes from a complex series of brain changes that occur over a long period of time.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alzheimer's Disease Essay

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Where is the cure for Alzheimer’s disease? The most common form of dementia is, Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Alzheimer’s can be defined as a disease that includes memory loss and inabilities that affect daily life.…

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics